Endoscopic Ear Surgery

Endoscopic ear surgery is a new surgical method that has been gaining more and more popularity in otology. Thanks to advances in technology, today the vast majority of external and middle ear diseases can be treated with this minimally invasive approach.

The structures of the middle ear are extremely small and delicate, the three bones inside the middle ear (malleus, incus and stapes) are the smallest bones in the human body, and are traditionally operated under magnification under a microscope. However, when we use a microscope in ear surgery and want to operate through the ear canal, we are limited by its width, because the light falls into the operating field "from outside", through a ear speculum. Therefore, in the vast majority of operations, it is necessary to make external incisions of the skin behind the ear and to drill the mastoid bone, so that we can adequately visualize all anatomical structures and safely remove the disease. When we operate endoscopically, with a small, thin camera, we enter the ear directly through its natural path, which is the ear canal, and we avoid unnecessary destruction of healthy tissues. Moreover, not only are we preserving the healthy surrounding tissue, but the surgeon also gets a better and more transparent image of the eardrum and other structures of the middle ear, with high magnification and excellent resolution, which makes operations more precise and predictable

Advantages of endoscopic ear surgery:

• Using the ear canal as a natural pathway to the middle ear
• A minimally invasive approach
• Wide operating field with high resolution and magnification
• Easy access to areas considered difficult to reach in classical microscopic ear surgery
• With the right indication, unnecessary mastoidectomy in cholesteatoma surgery is avoided
• Teaching - easier and better transfer of knowledge
• Results are equal to or better than microscopic surgery

Virtually all external and middle ear surgical procedures can nowadays be performed endoscopically:

• Placement of ventilation tubes in the ear drum
• Reconstruction of the eardrum
• Chronic ear infections
• Cholesteatoma
• Otosclerosis
• Exostoses

Endoscopic ear surgeries are performed by Mislav Malić, M.D., FEBORL-HNS, otorhinolaryngology specialist who is a pioneer of endoscopic ear surgery in Croatia with many years of experience in these sophisticated operations, the organizer of international courses in endoscopic ear surgery and an invited lecturer at several external events.