A Comparative Study of Outcomes of Type I Tympanoplasty with or without Fibrin Glue

Abstract

Introduction:

Various materials have been used in tympanoplasty to ensure the adherence of the graft with the remnant tympanic membrane. This study aims to compare the clinical outcomes of type I tympanoplasty done with and without fibrin glue.

Materials and Methods:          

This is a prospective comparative study conducted in a tertiary care centre between August 2014 and July 2016. A sample size of 70 patients was used. The patients were randomly divided into two groups – Group A and Group B. Patients in group A underwent tympanoplasty with fibrin glue and patients in group B underwent tympanoplasty without fibrin glue. The patients were followed up for 6 months and the postoperative hearing improvement and graft uptake rates were compared.

Results:

The pre-operative mean pure tone average for group A was 34.33±7.3dB; it improved to 22.14±6.5 at the end of 6 months. In group B, it improved from 34.25±8dB to 22.64±7.4dB at the end of 6 months. There was no statistical significance in hearing improvement between both the groups. Though there was no statistically significant difference in the graft uptake rates between group A (94.3%) and group B (91.4%), fibrin glue had better outcomes with larger perforations.

Conclusion:

The use of fibrin glue in tympanoplasty is safe and it has a particular advantage in the graft uptake in subtotal perforations.