Discussion
purulence, otorrhea, CSOM, anxiety
PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA, CHRONIC SUPPURATIVE OTITIS MEDIA, CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS, STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS, WOUND INFECTIONS
It is traditional practice to place a dressing pack within the EAC following myringoplasty, the pack produces a temporary conductive hearing loss until removed. In addition, post-operative ear pack removal is a significant source of anxiety and discomfort, especially in the paediatric age group [Some scholars recommended that topical antibiotic ointments are effective to use on open wounds in preventing wound infections [In the field of otologists, Cunningham et al. [In this study, Erythromycin ointment was choosed to pack lateral surface of the graft. Most of literatures reported that Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the commonest bacteria for chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) [Although some scholars reported that the graft success rates following myringoplasty was not affected by the presence of preoperative otorrhea [Apparently, mean ABG gain was not significantly different regardless of the use of antibiotic ointment or not. Also, similar with previous study [These findings may challenge commonly held surgical beliefs about the need for lateral packing following myringoplasty. The advantages of this study is that no patient was lost to follow-up from each group, thus supporting the results. In addition, the graft change may be clearly observed at different followup points by endoscope because of the absence of EAC packing of biodegradable synthetic polyurethane foam. However, the limitations of this study was small sample size, possibility of bias due to lack of blinding, and short-term followup. In addition, bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were not performed for the patients with purulence discharge in both groups.