With and without exogenous biological scaffolds for repairing traumatic perforations of tympanic membrane: Randomized clinical trials

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of ofloxacin ear drops, vaseline gauze (VG) and dry gelfoam alone on the large traumatic perforations of tympanic membrane (TM). Material and methods: A randomized prospective analysis was performed for the treatment of traumatic perfo-ration larger than 25 % of the entire TM. The closure rate, closure time, and hearing gain between ofloxacin ear drops, VG and gelfoam alone groups were compared at 3 months.Results: Final analysis was performed on 70 patients. The closure rates of perforation in the ofloxacin ear drops, VG, and dry gelfoam patch groups were 100.0 %, 92.0 %, and 87.5 %, respectively (P = 0.41).The mean closure times were 8.67 +/- 3.1, 10.65 +/- 4.2, and 14.33 +/- 7.5 days for the ofloxacin ear drops, VG, and gelfoam patch alone groups, respectively. The closure times among the 3 groups were significantly different (P = 0.003). In addition, there was a significant difference between the ofloxacin ear drops and gelfoam patch alone groups with regard to closure time (P = 0.003), while there was no significant difference between the ofloxacin ear drops and VG groups (P = 0.080) or VG and gelfoam patch groups (P = 0.056).The mean hearing gain was 11.4 +/- 2.3 dB for the ofloxacin ear drops group, 11.7 +/- 4.1 dB for the VG group, and 12.2 +/- 1.6 dB for the gelfoam patch group (P = 0.69).Conclusions: The repairing of traumatic perforations didn't require an exogenous biological scaffold. Ofloxacin ear drops and VG were a deal material for repairing traumatic perforation in otology clinic, which not only was readily available and inexpensive but also showed faster closure compared with dry gelfoam alone.