What Is a Tympanoplasty?
Tympanoplasty (TIM-pah-noh-plass-tee) is a surgery to repair the eardrum. The eardrum is a thin layer of tissue at the end of the ear canal that vibrates in response to sound.
Why Is a Tympanoplasty Done?
Doctors do a tympanoplasty when the eardrum (or tympanic membrane) has a hole that doesn't close on its own. It is done to improve hearing and prevent water from getting into the middle ear.
Kids can get a hole in an eardrum from:
- infections that cause the eardrum to burst
- ventilation (ear) tubes that fall out or are removed
- injury, such as puncturing the eardrum with a cotton swab
- cholesteatoma, a growth within or behind the eardrum
Most of the time, the eardrum can repair itself. So at first, doctors closely watch a hole in a child's eardrum rather than fix it right away. They might wait years to repair one in a very young child. This lets the ear develop enough to help prevent complications after the surgery. Surgery might also wait if a child has ongoing problems with ear infections.