Lateral temporal bone resection for malignancy of external auditory meatus: our approach

Objective  Surgical management of tumors of the external ear remains controversial with regard to the extent of resection and the efficacy of piecemeal resection compared to standard en bloc resection. The objective was to study the results of lateral temporal bone resection with soft tissue resection used at our centre in managing a series of such cases. Setting  Tertiary referral centre Patients  A retrospective study was carried out on seven cases of temporal bone malignancies treated at our center, with lateral temporal bone resection by the otologic microsurgical technique and superficial parotidectomy, with adjuvant radiotherapy where indicated. The mode of presentation, clinical and pathological staging, extent of surgical resection, reconstructive methods used and adjuvant therapy given were evaluated. The disease free survival on follow-up was noted. Results  Disease free survival achieved was comparable with other published series, with acceptable morbidity patterns. Conclusion  Lateral temporal bone resection using otologic microsurgical technique with soft tissue resection is an effective way of achieving control of temporal bone malignancies. This paper was read by the fifth author at the 59th Annual Conference of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India held at Bhubaneshwar from 4–7 January 2007.