Original
A Comparison of Hearing Gain Outcomes in Tympanoplasty with or without Augmentation at Dhaka Medical College Hospital
*Samad MS,1 Shanta FT2
- *Dr. Md. Sazzad Samad, Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology (ENT), Dhaka Medical Collage. sazzadsagore@gmail.com. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7039-9864
- Farjana Tasmin Shanta, Medical Officer, Upazila Health Complex, Mithamain, Kishoreganj. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1673-6925
*For correspondence
Abstracts
Background:Tympanoplasty is a commonly performed surgical procedure for the management of chronic otitis media, with the primary objective of restoring hearing by repairing tympanic membrane defects. Augmentation techniques have been introduced to improve graft stability and postoperative auditory outcomes; however, their additional benefit over conventional tympanoplasty remains a subject of debate.
Objective: To compare hearing gain outcomes between tympanoplasty performed with augmentation and tympanoplasty performed without augmentation.
Methods: This comparative study was conducted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from July 2020 to June 2025. A total of 500 chronic otitis media patients were enrolled via purposive sampling and divided equally into tympanoplasty with augmentation (n=250) and without augmentation (n=250). Pre- and postoperative hearing was assessed using pure tone audiometry, and hearing gain was calculated from air–bone gap improvement at speech frequencies. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0.
Results: Postoperative hearing improvement was observed in both groups, with the augmentation group demonstrating significantly greater mean hearing gain (18.6 ± 5.2 dB) compared to the non-augmentation group (14.1 ±4.8 dB; p=0.000). A higher proportion of patients achieved ≥15 dB hearing gain in the augmentation group (62.4% vs. 42.4%; p=0.001). Graft uptake was also superior with augmentation (94.0% vs. 88.4%; p=0.023), indicating enhanced surgical outcomes.
Conclusion: Tympanoplasty with augmentation provides superior hearing gain compared to tympanoplasty without augmentation, suggesting that augmentation techniques may offer added benefit in achieving improved auditory outcomes.
[Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Med Col J 2026, July; 11 (2):112-120]
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.69699/ssnimcj.2026.11.2.3