[Tympanoplasty on only-hearing ears].

It presents a dilemma whether an only-hearing ear with chronic otitis media should be managed surgically. From August 1981 to December 1988, 26 only-hearing ears were operated on by the authors. All of them had chronic otitis media and, furthermore, 7 ears had cholesteatomas. Prior to the operation, the patients must be informed in detail and really understand the risk of the operation. Tympanoplasty type I (16 ears), tympanoplasty type III (4 ears), classic modified radical mastoidectomy (1 ear), tympanoplasty type III with cartilage obliteration (3 ears), and tympanoplasty for pars flaccida (2 ears) were performed. After an average of 4 years and 2 months of follow-up, 16 ears showed hearing improvement but 10 ears remained the same. The average hearing gain was 12.7 dB. The operation on only-hearing ears should be performed by the most experienced otosurgeon. In these cases, special precautions were taken during surgery to minimize the potential for intraoperative or postoperative hearing loss.