Myringoplasty Health Dictionary

An operation on the ear to treat conductive deafness by repairing a hole in the eardrum (see myringoplasty) or by repositioning or reconstructing diseased ossicles.... tympanoplasty

Rupture or erosion of the eardrum. Perforation of the eardrum can cause brief, intense pain. There may be slight bleeding, a discharge from the ear (see ear, discharge from), and some reduction in hearing.

Most commonly, perforation occurs as a result of the build-up of pus in the middle ear due to acute otitis media. Perforation may also be associated with cholesteatoma. Another cause is injury, for example from insertion of an object into the ear, a loud noise, barotrauma, or a fracture to the base of the skull.

Diagnosis is confirmed by examination of the ear (see ear, examination of).

Hearing tests may also be performed.

Analgesic drugs may relieve any pain and antibiotic drugs may be prescribed to treat or prevent infection.

Most perforations heal quickly.

If the perforation has failed to heal after 6 months, myringoplasty may be needed.... eardrum, perforated

n. inflammation of the ear. Otitis externa is inflammation of the canal between the eardrum and the external opening of the ear (the external auditory meatus). Myringitis is inflammation of the eardrum, often due to viral infection. Acute otitis media is inflammation, usually due to viral or bacterial infection, of the middle ear (the chamber lying behind the eardrum and containing the three bony ossicles that conduct sound to the inner ear). Symptoms include pain and a high fever. Treatment is with antibiotics and sometimes also by surgical drainage (*myringotomy). Secretory otitis media (or otitis media with effusion) is a chronic accumulation of fluid in the middle ear, causing hearing loss (see glue ear). Chronic otitis media (COM) is chronic inflammation of the middle ear associated with perforations of the eardrum and in some instances with *cholesteatoma. The treatment involves surgical repair of perforations (*myringoplasty) or removal of the air cells in the mastoid bone (*mastoidectomy). Chronic otitis media was previously known as chronic suppurative otitis media but the terminology was changed as the formation of pus is not an inevitable part of the condition. See also labyrinthitis.... otitis