New technique for ruptured ear drums: sounds good!

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When our youngest was in primary school many years ago, a female "friend" fetched him a clout across his ear - probably quite justifiably - but the result was that the force of the blow actually ruptured his ear drum! Unfortunately it didn't heal and he had to go into hospital and have a graft put over the defect. But the good news is that it all healed nicely and he's never looked back.

Now it may well be that hospitalization for such injuries may not be needed in the future if Dr. Issam Saliba of the Université de Montreal gets his way. He's been developing what's been described as a "revolutionary" new way of patching such defects in an Outpatient setting. His procedure is quick, requires only a short local anaesthetic and the results have been excellent according to a report in the December 16, 2011 of the scientific journal Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery. 


A small amount of fat is taken from behind the ear under local anaesthetic, and with the addition of Hyaluronic acid to help promote normal tissue healing, is placed over the deficit. The results have been equal to the traditional methods which require a general anaesthetic, harvesting of graft tissue and then up to 10 days off work or school to allow healing to become firmly established.

Not only is this method less traumatic for children as they don't require hospitalization, the cost savings will be significant too: plus more Theatre time will be freed up as these operative procedures will now be carried out in Outpatient settings. It's all music to my ears!
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