Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the etiologic factors and treatment types for chronic otitis media (COM) complications.
Methods: In this study, the data from 82 patients who had been diagnosed and treated at the Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery of Gaziantep University between 1999 and 2011 for complications from COM were retrospectively reviewed. The chosen surgical procedure was based on the type of complication and the ear pathology.
Results: The study included 55 male and 27 female patients. Ten patients (12.2%) had intracranial complications, and 72 patients (87.80%) had extracranial complications. There were 47 patients with cholesteatoma. Radical mastoidectomy was performed on 46 patients, canal-wall-down mastoidectomy was performed on 30 patients, and canal-wall-up mastoidectomy was performed on 6 patients. Five patients underwent neurosurgical operations because of COM complications.
Conclusions: Although the rate of COM complications has recently declined, it remains important to diagnose COM without delay and to use appropriate treatments for the patients because COM complications are associated with poor outcomes.