Traumatic Tympanic Membrane Perforation in Children: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction:   TTraumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane in pediatric population is often encountered in primary  otolaryngologic clinics or in the emergency department. The objective of the  study was to find out the clinical presentation of traumatic tympanic membrane perforation in the pediatric population.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was done from February, 2023 to February, 2024 after obtaining the ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board (2023/114). All the patients aged less than 18 years and presenting with traumatic tympanic membrane perforation were included in the study. Collected data was entered and analysed using Microsoft Excel. Patients were evaluated for demographics, mechanism of trauma and clinical characteristics of ear drum perforation in children.

Results: A total of 384 children aged less than 18 years were included in the study among which 267 (69.53%) were males. Physical assault 109 (28.39%) was the most common cause of tympanic membrane perforation. The most common symptom at the time of presentation was ear block/hearing loss 208 (54.16%). Conductive hearing loss was present in 214 (55.73%) children.

Conclusion: Traumatic perforation of the tympanic membrane resulted mostly from the blunt force trauma especially in male children.