Comparing audiometric parameters between crushed and intact cartilage tympanoplasty: a double-blinded, randomised, controlled trial study.

To investigate hearing and the take rate of crushed cartilage grafts in tympanoplasty. In this double-blinded, randomised, controlled trial, 46 patients with tympanic membrane perforation were enrolled. A conchal cartilage graft was used for reconstruction in both intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, crushed cartilage was used. The success rate and hearing results were ascertained every four months over a one-year follow-up period. A total of 36 patients - 20 in the intervention group and 16 in the control group - completed one year of follow up. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in mean air-bone gap, bone conduction threshold, speech discrimination score or speech reception threshold. The reduction in living cells after crushed cartilage tympanoplasty may decrease the rigidity and the volume of the graft, but may not necessarily improve the hearing results.