Middle Ear & Mastoid Surgery

The exact indication and purpose of the surgery on your ear will depend on the disease process. The intended benefit from the surgery is therefore very much dependant on the specific condition. Your doctor will discuss the benefits of surgery with you. Below is some details about ear surgery which applies regardless of what the underlying condition is.

Where will my scar be?

Ear surgeons generally speaking use two types of incisions. One is just in the skin crease infront of your ear (endaural incision), and the other is in the skin groove behind your ear (postaural incision). Which one is used will depend primarily on the type of surgery, the access required, and the surgeon’s personal preference. Less commonly other incisions will be used. Incisions in all the various sites usually heal nicely with minimal cosmetic deformity visible in the longterm.

What are the complications?

Generally speaking ear and mastoid surgery is a safe procedure, but as with any procedure there are risks of complications which the patient needs to be aware of.

Ear is a hearing and balance organ. Inaddition two important nerves traverse the middle ear and mastoid regions. One is the facial nerve, and the other is called the chorda tympani nerve (see below). Complications of surgery are related to the function and the anatomy of the ear.

Hearing loss

Your doctor will inform you if the intended benefit from surgery is improvement in your hearing. However, with all types of middle ear surgery there is a risk, albeit very small, of reduction or permanent loss of hearing.

Tinnitus

Some may experience noises in the ear after the procedure, but this is usually temporary.

Dizziness or vertigo

The ear being a balance organ there is a small risk that you may experience some vertigo and imbalance after the operation. This is uncommon and if it occurs it usually last no more than a day or two. Rarely, the imbalance is more permanent. This may be due to damage from the disease process, or direct result of surgery.

Facial Nerve Injury

Injury to the facial nerve is a very rare complication of ear surgery. Injury to the nerve will give rise to weakness of the muscles of the facial expression, affecting one’s ability to frown, close the eyes, blow out the cheeks, smile, or other related functions that these muscles are responsible for.

Chorda Tympani nerve injury

This nerve contains fibres which are responsible for detection of taste from much of the mouth. Damage to the nerve may result to an altered taste sensation (commonly described as a metallic taste) which is often not permanent, but may take months to recover.

Wound infection

Wounds may get infected, but this is usually easily treatable with antibiotics.

Other complications

Other complications that are more specific to the condition and type of surgery being performed are outlined in the sections related to the specific disease processes.

What to expect after surgery

You will experience the after effects of anaesthesia. Any pain or nauseas experienced is usually well controlled with medication.There will be some packing in your ear which needs to stay in place until your first outpatient visit which is commonly 2 to 3 weeks following surgery.Any non dissolvable sutures will need to be removed 5-7 days following surgery. Some surgeons tend to apply a head bandage for 24 hours.