Comparison of Cartilage with Temporalis Fascia Tympanoplasty: A Meta-analysis of Comparative Studies

Objective: To systematically review the results of type 1 tympanoplasty with temporalis fascia (TF) versus cartilage in patients with chronic otitis media (COM) for graft integration and hearing improvement.

Data Sources: The English language literature (until June 1, 2016) was searched, using Medline (via PubMed), Scopus, ProQuest, Ovid, Cochrane database, and Google Scholar.

Review Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was performed. Prospective and retrospective studies enrolling patients with COM were included. Relevance and validity of selected articles were evaluated. Heterogeneity was assessed using I statistics. For dichotomous variables, absolute rate differences, and number needed to treat (NNT) were calculated. For continuous variables, standard mean differences were calculated.

Results: A total of 11 prospective and 26 retrospective studies involving 3,606 patients were included. In general, the overall graft integration rates of cartilage and fascia tympanoplasty were 92% and 82%, respectively (NNT = 11.1, P < 0.001). Although there was no significant difference in the air-bone gap (ABG) closure of < 10 dB between the two groups, the subanalysis of prospective studies showed that patients in the TF group had less mean postoperative ABG (P = 0.02). Subgroup analysis of palisade grafts compared with that of TF graft revealed a significant difference in the graft integration rate favoring cartilage tympanoplasty (P = 0.01).

Conclusion: Cartilage grafting seemed to show a higher graft integration rate compared with TF grafting. Both cartilage and fascia tympanoplasty provided similar improvements in the hearing outcome postoperatively. Large prospective trials are necessary to collect high-quality data.

Level Of Evidence: NA. Laryngoscope, 127:2139-2148, 2017.