Attic Cholesteatoma Surgery

The primary purpose of the surgery is to remove the cholesteatoma and infection and achieve an infection free dry ear.

Attic cholesteatoma surgery.

Repeat cat scans may also be performed in some cases to avoid further surgery. Cholesteatoma is a serious condition and when diagnosed requires prompt treatment. Antibiotics given both by mouth and drops in the ear combined with weekly cleaning of the ear under the surgical microscope can clear up the infection. In cases of severe ear destruction or persisting eustachian tube dysfunction reconstruction may not be possible.

Medical treatment concentrates on drying the infection within the ear. This video lecture illustrates the combined transcanal endoscopic and microscopic approach for pediatric attic cholesteatoma with mastoid extension. Dead skin cells are normally passed out of the ear but if the eardrum collapses it may create a pocket where the dead skin cells can collect. Even with careful microscopic surgical removal of cholesteatoma 10 to 20 of cholesteatomas can recur.

A cholesteatoma can develop if part of the eardrum collapses. Cholesteatoma ker less tea a toe ma is a progressive destructive ear disease most cases occur in children and young adults but it can affect any age. Surgery that involves the tympanum middle ear the tympanum is the area of the ear behind the ear drum where the bones of hearing ossicles are located. Skin builds up in layers and erodes the bone of the middle ear and mastoid in its early stages cholesteatoma tends to attack the ossicles the small bones conducting sound from the eardrum to the inner ear.

If untreated a cholesteatoma can eat into the three small bones located in the middle ear the malleus incus and stapes collectively called ossicles which can result in nerve deterioration. You can get a cholesteatoma if the eardrum is damaged through an injury or infection or after any kind of ear surgery. A cholesteatoma is an abnormal noncancerous skin growth that can develop in the middle section of your ear behind the eardrum. The attic is just above the eardrum.

The reported advantages of endoscopy in cholesteatoma surgery is improved visualization of the hidden sites and this may have an advantage in reducing residual disease especially in those hidden sites which include the sinus tympani facial recess and the attic. If the cholesteatoma has been dry the cholesteatoma may present the appearance of wax over the attic. To have an understanding of cholesteatoma surgery some terms should be defined.