Canalplasty: The technique and the analysis of its results

ObjectiveTo describe the technique for canalplasty as performed in the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands and to present the results of this technique.Study designRetrospective chart analysis.Subjects and methodsCharts of patients who underwent a canalplasty prodedure between 2001 and 2010 were reviewed for indication for surgery, side of surgery, age at the time of surgery, gender, smoking habits, surgical outcome, results of pure tone audiometry pre-and post-operatively and the occurrence of complications.Results193 canalplasty procedures with or without more extensive otosurgery in 174 patients were performed for various indications in the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands between 2001 and 2010. Complete re-epithelialization took approximately 6.7 weeks and was influenced by smoking and the surface needed to re-epithelialize. Complications occurred in 28.0% of cases, of which most (98%) could be regarded as transient. No significant changes in pure tone bone conduction levels at 1, 2 and 4 kHz were observed.ConclusionThis retrospective study shows that technique for canalplasty as used in the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands can be used for a wide variety of indications, highlighting its added value in otosurgery.