Publication:

Post-operative surgical site infection after type 1 tympanoplasty: an institutional experience

Background Tympanoplasty is a routinely performed surgery for treating the COM mucosal type of disease. Complications after surgery is not uncommon and can compromise the surgical outcomes. However, the incidence of surgical site infections after ear surgery is declining day by day because of the use of pre-op antibiotics, highly sterilized instruments and clean surgical fields. This paper presents a study on post-operative infections after tympanoplasty and investigates the potential cause responsible for it.

Methods This prospective study was done over a period of 9 months. The data of 100 patients who were operated for COM mucosal (inactive) type of disease under general anaesthesia, under the care of both the senior and junior surgeons were recorded. There surgical outcomes were evaluated and all cases of locally infected ears were assessed and followed up.

Results Concerning the SSI postoperatively, 4 cases were diagnosed (4%) within the period of 1 month of follow-up, and a significant association was found with the patients operated by juniors, poor hygienic practices by patients, and the comorbidities associated with the patients.

Conclusions The occurrence of complications after ear surgery is less rare than previously thought. Inappropriate surgery by junior surgeons is found to be one of the causes of complications resulting in graft failure. Maintaining personal hygiene post-operatively also plays an important role in keeping the surgical site clean, so patient counselling regarding personal hygiene and head hygiene is very important. And co-morbidities like diabetes mellitus should be taken into consideration in view of avoiding SSI.