Clinical otolaryngology : official journal of ENT-UK ; official journal of Netherlands Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Cervico-Facial Surgery
October 13, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Unsuccessful Healing of Tympanic Membrane Perforations Following Myringoplasty-A Nationwide Retrospective Study.
Sepehri E, Arebro J, Westman E, Eriksson PO.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
In a national registry of 3622 myringoplasties, 12.8% had a non-healed eardrum at follow-up, with younger age, prior ear surgery and postoperative infection associated with failure.
What was studied
Retrospective analysis of Swedish Quality Register for Ear Surgery (SwedEar) data on myringoplasties, with or without ossiculoplasty, performed 2014 to 2019 with a follow-up visit, using logistic regression for risk factors of non-healing.
Key findings
- 12.8% of 3622 cases had a non-healed tympanic membrane, and fascia was the graft in 94.6% of cases
- Prior ear surgery (adjusted OR 1.43, p = 0.005) and age younger than 8 years (adjusted OR 1.73, p = 0.015) were associated with unsuccessful healing
- Postoperative infection within 6 weeks had an adjusted OR of 1.92, and ears needing concomitant ossiculoplasty surprisingly had a higher healing rate
Clinical relevance
Helps surgeons counsel patients on healing prospects, particularly young children, revision cases and those who develop early postoperative infection.
Who should care
Limitations
The abstract is truncated within the results, so the p value for infection and any other variables (the conclusion also mentions surgical aim) cannot be reported; registry data are observational and follow-up timing may vary.
A large dataset points to a few risk factors for failed myringoplasty, but the full set of results needs the complete paper.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Introduction
Risk factors for unsuccessful healing of a tympanic membrane perforation following myringoplasty lack consensus. Large cohort studies are missing.
Methods
Data were collected for myringoplasties (with/without concomitant ossiculoplasty) performed the years 2014-2019 with a follow-up visit using the Swedish Quality Register for Ear Surgery (SwedEar). Risk factors for unsuccessful surgical outcome, defined as non-healed tympanic membrane at follow-up, were calculated using logistic regression.
Results
The study population included 3622 cases and 12.8% had a non-healed tympanic membrane at follow-up. The most commonly used graft material was fascia, used in 94.6% of the cases. Of the analysed variables, prior ear surgery (adjusted (a)OR 1.43, p = 0.005), age younger than 8 years (aOR 1.73, p = 0.015), a postoperative infection within 6 weeks after surgery (aOR 1.92, p < 0.001) and the surgical aim of achieving a dry/infection free ear (aOR 1.53, p = 0.045) were predictors for unsuccessful healing. For simultaneous ossiculoplasty at surgery, there was a significantly higher chance of having a healed tympanic membrane (aOR 1.49, p = 0.016). For other variables such as gender, operated side, season, graft material, perioperative antibiotics and infection free status at surgery, there was no significant effect on tympanic membrane healing.
Conclusion
The present evaluation of the surgical results in SwedEar constitutes one of the largest studies on myringoplasty outcome. The results showed that the age of the patient, surgical aim, prior ear surgery and postoperative infection constituted risk factors for unsuccessful healing after myringoplasty. Surprisingly, ears requiring a concomitant ossiculoplasty had a higher healing rate.
DOI
10.1111/coa.70176
PMID
42869419
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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