Residual Cholesteatoma After Endoscopic-Assisted Canal Wall-Up Tympanomastoidectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of using endoscopes in reducing recidivism secondary to residual cholesteatoma after canal wall-up tympanomastoidectomy.

Study Design: Randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Patients: Patients with cholesteatoma, aged 7 to 70 years.

Interventions: Subjects were randomly allocated into two groups: endoscopic-assisted canal wall-up (EACWU; group 1) and conventional canal wall-up (CWU; group 2) techniques. Pars flaccida and pars tensa subgroups were analyzed according to the anatomic location of cholesteatoma origin.

Main Outcome Measures: Presence or absence of residual cholesteatoma, based on second look surgery, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, or video-otoscopy at 12 and 18 months after surgery.

Results: In total, 57 ears were analyzed: 29 in group 1 and 28 in group 2. Group 1 revealed residual disease in 17.2% of ears, whereas group 2 had residual disease in 35.7% (p > 0.05) of the ears. In the pars tensa cholesteatoma subgroup, the incidence of residual disease was 13.3% for EACWU and 47.1% for the CWU technique (p < 0.05). A tendency of reduced incidence was observed for cholesteatoma due to residual disease using EACWU. In addition, a statistically significant reduction in the residual disease was observed in the subgroup of pars tensa cholesteatomas. In this subgroup, the relative risk was 0.28, and the number needed to treat was 4.6.

Conclusion: The use of the endoscope reduces the incidence of recidivism secondary to residual disease in pars tensa cholesteatomas. Endoscopic-assisted surgery may be useful in cases with an indication for canal wall-up tympanomastoidectomy.

Level of Evidence: 1b.

Competing Interests: The authors disclose no conflicts of interest.

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