ABSTRACT
From the early 1980s onwards, otoendoscopy was increasingly used to inspect and diagnose middle ear disease, particularly residual disease after canal wall up mastoidectomy procedures. Second-look operations in patients who had previously undergone intact canal wall mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty operations were performed with the aid of otoendoscopes to exclude residual epitympanic or mastoid cholesteatoma. Safety issues surrounding endoscopy have focused on the risk of thermal injury to the middle ear. Lack of endoscopic experience or indelicate tissue handling may lead to unsafe advancement during otoendoscopic exploration and possible forceful dislocation or fracture of ossicles. The diagnostic potential of the endoscope lies most commonly in the evaluation of retraction pockets and cholesteatoma, particularly in blind spots such as the sinus tympani, attic, protympanum and hypotympanum. The least complicated therapeutic application of endoscopy in ear surgery is probably that of tympanoplasty. Otoendoscopy can be helpful in canal wall-down mastoid procedures.
