BONE PATE OBLITERATION OR REVISION MASTOIDECTOMY - A 5-SYMPTOM COMPARATIVE-STUDY

A survey of 47 patients who underwent surgical treatment for persisten t symptomatic mastoid cavities following mastoidectomy for cholesteato ma, was carried out. There were two groups comprising 26 patients who underwent revision mastoidectomy (14 with meatoplasty); the technique favoured early in the series, and 21 managed by mastoid revision and o bliteration with autologous bone pate and a superiorly based temporali s musculo-periosteal flap. A questionnaire' was used to assign a sympt om score to each patients pre and post-operative condition, with a max imum score of 15 and minimum of zero. The pre-operative scores for the two groups were not significantly different, but the patients treated by obliteration with bone pate had a significantly lower (P = 0.05) p ostoperative symptom score than those who had their mastoids simply re vised. This study suggests that revision mastoidectomy with bone pate obliteration achieves a more favourable result than revision mastoidec tomy alone, and is, we believe, the technique of choice for the patien t with a symptomatic mastoid cavity.