Ear-pick injury as a traumatic ossicular damage in Japan

Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2010 Jul;267(7):1035-9. doi: 10.1007/s00405-009-1162-x. Epub 2009 Nov 24.

Abstract

This retrospective study examined the etiology and treatment results for traumatic, conductive hearing loss in 22 patients who underwent surgery between 1998 and 2008 at Osaka Red Cross Hospital. All patients underwent computed tomography (CT) of the temporal bone preoperatively. The ear surgery comprised closure of the ruptured tympanic membranes and restoration of the sound-transmitting function of the ossicular chain. Their mean age was 30.3 years, and the average delay from injury until treatment was 6.0 years. Of the injuries due to foreign-body insertion, the most common cause was ear-pick injury. Incudostapedial disarticulation was the most common finding, which was diagnosed preoperatively using CT in seven cases and identified at surgery in 15 cases. Closure of the air-bone gap to within 10 and 20 dB was observed in 50.0 and 68.2% of the patients, respectively. The hearing threshold improved by 10 dB or more in 16 (72.7%) patients. If no improvement in hearing loss follows the absorption of hemotympanium or closure of an eardrum perforation, dislocation of the ossicular bones should be suspected. Ossicular reconstruction following trauma produces more stable and better hearing results, even after delayed treatment.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Barotrauma / complications
  • Craniocerebral Trauma / complications
  • Ear Ossicles / diagnostic imaging
  • Ear Ossicles / injuries*
  • Ear Ossicles / surgery
  • Ear, Middle / diagnostic imaging
  • Ear, Middle / injuries*
  • Ear, Middle / surgery
  • Female
  • Foreign Bodies / complications*
  • Hearing Loss, Conductive / diagnostic imaging
  • Hearing Loss, Conductive / etiology*
  • Hearing Loss, Conductive / surgery
  • Humans
  • Iatrogenic Disease
  • Japan
  • Male
  • Radiography
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Temporal Bone / diagnostic imaging