Cholesteatoma Treated by Different Types of Mastoid Surgery

Canal-Wall-Up Tympanomastoidectomy with
Facial Recess Dissection

Although I personally no longer perform mastoid surgery, I often get asked by patients with cholesteatoma to please clarify what are the differences among the mastoid surgeries proposed by their ear surgeon. Ear anatomy is complex and the surgery to address such a complex area is also not easy to understand.

As such, a new webpage has been created to not so much explain what cholesteatoma is (a destructive cyst-like skin growth within the middle ear) and why it happens, but rather goes more into explaining the different types of mastoid surgeries used to remove the cholesteatoma. Hopefully the information is watered down enough to the essentials with explanatory pictures so at least a reasonably educated patient can understand the differences among:

• Basic mastoidectomy
• Canal-wall-up tympanomastoidectomy
• Canal-wall-up tympanomastoidectomy with facial recess dissection
• Canal-wall-down tympanomastoidectomy
• Radical mastoidectomy
• Endoscopic middle ear exploration
• Second stage or second look surgery
• Ossicular chain reconstruction

Check it out here!

The first video includes actual surgery whereas the second video is animation only.