Effect of Eustachian tube function on tympanoplasty outcome in chronic otitis media patients: Cross-sectional study

Introduction: Eustachian tube (ET) dysfunction has been attributed to many diseases of middle ear cleft ranging from as benign as serous otitis media to squamosal (unsafe) chronic otitis media (COM). Many factors have been attributed for the success of tympanoplasty, out of which ET function (ETF) is considered one of the most important. ETF can be evaluated by various tests and assessment of the same can predict the outcome of tympanoplasty.Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ETF on tympanoplasty outcome in COM patients.Materials and Methods: This observational study was conducted in the department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of KLE University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belagavi, Karnataka, from January 2014 to December 2014.Results: Out of 37 patients who had normal ETF, 33 (90.2%) had successful while four (9.8%) had unsuccessful outcome. Out of 11 patients who had partial dysfunction of ET, seven (63.6%) had successful while four (36.4%) had unsuccessful outcome. On the other hand, all the patients who had gross dysfunction of ET had an unsuccessful outcome.Conclusion: The saccharin test is an easy, simple, and cost-effective method because it does not require any sophisticated equipment. It promises to be a useful diagnostic tool to assess the mucociliary function of the ET. Methylene blue dye test can also be used as an adjunct to know the anatomical patency. Therefore, saccharin test and methylene blue test are recommended as a part of routine preoperative workup for all patients planned for tympanoplasty, which supplementing other existing tests for tubal function.