Modified Bondy radical mastoidectomy: anatomic and functional results

Objectives: To assess the anatomic and functional results in the ears which underwent modified Bondy radical mastoidectomy. Methods: The records of 44 ears operated on between July 1999-December 2005 with a minimum of 30-month follow-up period were retrospectively reviewed. All the patients had intact ossicular chain and underwent modified Bondy radical mastoidectomy. Results: There were 29 male and 15 female patients. The mean age was 31.97 +/- 12.45 years and the mean follow-up period was 44.29 +/- 8.73 months. After the surgical operation, 39 (88.6%) of the ears had a dry cavity, while in the other 5 cases, cholesteatoma recurrence (2 cases), perforation (2 cases) and severe retraction (1 case) were observed. The average preoperative air-bone gap (ABG) was 22.09 +/- 6.17 dB, and the postoperative ABG was 15.81 +/- 7.14 dB (p<0.01). The audiometric evaluation revealed 18 (40.9%) patients with an ABG of 20 dB or less preoperatively while the postoperative evaluation revealed 32 (72.7%) patients. The postoperative hearing level was unchanged or improved in 38 (86.3%) patients-17 (38.6%) subjects had an unchanged gap and 21 (47.7%) had an improved gap. In the remaining 6 (13.6%) cases the hearing was worse. Conclusion: Modified Bondy radical mastoidectomy has successful hearing results with low cholestatoma recurrence; therefore it has a clear place in modern otology. When performed on carefully selected patients, it has been proven to offer good results. This technique can be considered as a single stage operation with confidence, in patients with mastoid and epitympanic cholesteatoma.