Tympanoplasty in children.

To evaluate the possibility that current teaching regarding the postponement of tympanoplasty as desirable in young patients might be less correct than previously thought, the results in 260 ears in patients aged less than 16 years were scrutinized. It was found that not only were the functional results comparable to those obtained with adult patients, but also that there was little evidence of subsequent deterioration of initially good hearing results with time. The findings in regard to postoperative cholesteatomatous complications were in agreement with those previously reported and were not different from those in adult patients. It is concluded that, with children, in the interests of health, educational progress and social integration, tympanoplasty procedures, often in two stages, should be carried out as soon as concomitant upper respiratory disease is brought under control. Childhood cholesteatoma is not a "different" disease. Functional results are the same as with adults and are influenced by identical deficiencies in our technical ability.