The influence of cochlear implant surgery on the natural history of secretory otitis media

Secretory otitis media (SOM) is a common childhood disease. The goal of this study was to determine the influence of mastoidectomy on the natural history of SOM in cochlear implant children. We conducted a retrospective study of all the children up to the age of 8 years, who underwent cochlear implantation between 1993 and 2001 in our department. The children were divided into two groups according to the surgical technique used for the implantation: 94 children who underwent implantation with posterior tympanotomy approach (including mastoidectomy) and 48 children who were implanted with a Suprameatal approach (SMA) (without mastoidectomy). The incidence of SOM before and after the implantation was compared between the two groups. There were no significant differences between the two study groups in terms of age, treatment of SOM prior to cochlear implantation or pre- and post-implantation incidence of SOM. Mastoidectomy itself failed to show positive effect on the course of post-operative SOM in cochlear implant children.