Cartilage palisade tympanoplasty and diving

To determine whether a patient with a serious defect of the tympanic membrane (TM) will be able to dive after surgery. The authors describe three patients who were divers with serious defects of the TM (more than 75% of TM). In all three cases, cartilage palisade tympanoplasty was used to reconstruc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOtology & neurotology Vol. 22; no. 4; p. 430
Main Authors Velepic, M, Bonifacic, M, Manestar, D, Bonifacic, D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.07.2001
Subjects
Acoustic Impedance Tests - methods
Adolescent
Adult
Audiometry, Pure-Tone
Cartilage - transplantation
Diving
Humans
Surgical Flaps
Treatment Outcome
Turbinates - transplantation
Tympanic Membrane - physiopathology
Tympanic Membrane - surgery
Tympanoplasty - methods
Valsalva Maneuver
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Summary:To determine whether a patient with a serious defect of the tympanic membrane (TM) will be able to dive after surgery. The authors describe three patients who were divers with serious defects of the TM (more than 75% of TM). In all three cases, cartilage palisade tympanoplasty was used to reconstruct the TM. Six months after surgery, the patients passed clinical examinations, audiograms (hearing restored to normal), tympanometry (increased stiffness of the TM), and pressure tolerance tests in hyperbaric chamber (30-m immersion was simulated for 4 minutes), and they began to dive again. Approximately 2 years after the surgery, all three patients are able to dive without any difficulties. The authors conclude that patients can dive after cartilage palisade tympanoplasty.
ISSN:1531-7129
DOI:10.1097/00129492-200107000-00002