Quality in middle ear surgery – a critical position determination

What are the quality measures and parameters in reconstructive middle ear surgery? The ERCD recently published a comprehensive review highlighting the various aspects of quality management when treating middle ear diseases. The publication is available in English and German on the journal’s homepage (DE-Link, EN-Link). Besides focusing on established result quality parameters (graft take rate, hearing outcome), the increasing importance of disease-specific quality of life measures are discussed. Since the absence of complications can also be seen as a quality measure, a detailed look on the available literature is given. Furthermore, the difficulties arising from the existence and the use of different classification and staging systems are debated.

“… in middle ear surgery, achieving a higher quality level seems to be inevitably associated with the routine performance (habit) and the description of symptoms, therapy modalities, and evaluation parameters. The manifold influencing factors and differences in the findings and therapy make long-term and cross-center data collection necessary in order to generate sufficiently large populations for significant studies. Without any doubt, it requires the commitment of the scientific world to use existing assessment systems, to prospectively and routinely collect and manage data.”(Neudert M.(2020). Qualität in der Mittelohrchirurgie – eine kritische Standortbestimmung in Laryngo-Rhino-Otol 99: S1–S26. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1021-6427)