A 5-year observational study of the outcome in pediatric cholesteatoma surgery.

Objective: The present report is a 5-year observational study after pediatric cholesteatoma surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective analysis was made on pediatric cholesteatoma cases in a county hospital.

Intervention: Between 1988 and 2001, 52 primary cholesteatoma operations were performed on 50 children.

Main Outcome Measure And Results: Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, the residual and recurrent cholesteatoma rate at 5 years was 20.6 (95% confidence interval, 8.7-32.6%) and 5.1% (95% confidence interval, 0.0-12.1%), respectively. At the 5-year follow-up, 12.2% of the ears still have otorrhea. Socially adequate hearing (30-dB hearing level or better) was achieved in 53% of ears. Overall, 50% of the ears required a second operation within the first 5 years, including planned staged surgery for primary treatment.

Conclusion: Currently, there is no consensus on how outcomes of cholesteatoma surgery are reported. The authors recommend that these should be long-term data (5 yr or longer), using survival analyses for recidivistic rate and cutoff analyses for postoperative otorrhea and hearing outcome.