Objective: To explore the effective treatment regimen for osteoradionecrosis of temporal bone.
Method: Twenty-seven patients with massive osteoradionecrosis in temporal bone were included and retrospectively analyzed, in which, 15 cases received surgery and the other 12 cases adopted non-surgical treatment.
Result: In the surgery group, three cases died one year postoperatively and died of massive hemorrhage due to internal carotid blowout. One case died four years after surgery without clear cause of death, and two cases were lost to follow up. Out of the nine survivors, the follow up period ranged from four months to eight years (one was followed up eight years, one was followed up over four years, four were followed up two-three years, one was followed up over one year, one was followed up nine months, and one was followed up four months, respectively). Patients classified as the type III received best outcome, and patients of type V and IV without invasion of the internal carotid artery received good surgical effects, while patients classified as the type IV with internal carotid artery invasion presented low survival rate. Two cases in the non-surgical group died of internal carotid rupture, and the other ten cases presented with repeated infection and expansion of the osteoradionecrosis lesion.
Conclusion: The new classification criteria is helpful in diagnosis of location of lesions,and can serve as a guide for clinical therapy. Massive osteoradionecrosis in temporal bone responded unfavorably to conservative treatment, compared to that, surgery can effectively control the expansion of the lesion and markedly improve patient quality of life. Long-term follow up is necessary because of the slow development of osteoradionecrosis after surgery.