Humanitarian otologic missions: Long-term surgical results

Performing otologic surgery in the austere environment of a developing nation is a difficult undertaking.

Many surgeons perform humanitarian missions, without knowledge of long-term results, which leaves the question as to how many people these missions truly help. However, new research validates these critical expeditions for patient care.

Results from a new study presented at the 2007 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO indicate that during a mission trip, the majority of patients can be cured by a single otologic procedure for chronic ear infections (ears draining pus) or tumors (cholesteatoma), thus proving substantial benefit of these expeditions. The retrospective study was conducted of 121 patients who underwent surgery for chronic ear disease during humanitarian surgical missions in South and Central America. Patients were divided into three case groups, comprised of patients with cholesteatoma (Group I), patients with chronically draining ear at the time of surgery (Group II), and patients with dry perforations at the time of surgery (Group III). Surgical outcomes and clinical course were assessed at 10 to 12 months following the initial surgery. Complete surgical success was determined as 92 percent, 70 percent, and 60 percent for each group, respectively.

The results of the study indicate that surgical results from humanitarian missions provide significant benefit to patients, especially when the treatment consists of one particular type of surgery. Added benefits derive from providing modern surgical equipment to the host country.