Traumatic tympanic membrane rupture| symptoms, differential diagnosis and treatment

Causes of tympanic membrane rupture

• Self induced as during cleaning.
• During ear wash.
• Slap on the ear.
• Otitic baro trauma.
• Blast injuries; compression and rarefaction waves.
  

Symptoms and signs of traumatic tympanic membrane rupture:

• Deafness.
• Otalgia (pain in the ear).
• Bleeding per ear (does not clot if mixed with CSF).
• T.M perforation (see the table).
• Blood clots in external auditory canal EAC.
• Tuning fork: Conductive deafness.

Differential diagnosis of  traumatic from pathological perforation of tympanic membrane

Treatment of Traumatic tympanic membrane rupture

a- Conservative

- Keep ear sterile, no water entry or ear drops

- Systemic antibiotics, nasal decongestants & avoid nose blowing.

- In most cases it heals spontaneously.

b- Surgical

Myringoplasty in persistent perforation (after 6 months).
References