Traumatic Perforation of Tympanic Membrane in A Tertiary Hospital in South-Eastern, Nigeria

Introduction: Traumatic tympanic membrane (TM) perforation is a commonly encountered otological condition with consequent hearing impairment and potentials for more grievous complications. We aim to establish the prevalence, sex distribution, laterality and aetiological factors associated with traumatic TM perforation in our locality Materials and Method: This is a 10 Year retrospective study involving patients who were managed for traumatic TM perforations at ENT outpatient clinic of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State. Results: A total of 186 patients were managed for traumatic TM perforation involving 190 ears. The prevalence was 4.9%; 66.1% were males, 33.9% females giving a male to female ratio of 2:1 while age ranges from 1-68 years (mean± SD was 22.23± 15years. Left ear was involved in 54.3% of the cases, right ear in 43.5% and both ears in 2.2%. The commonest cause of traumatic TM perforation was Assaults (58.1%) of various kinds; domestic violence was the commonest, accounting for 22% of all the assault cases followed by assaults from security men (15.1%), then, slap by school teachers, prefects and senior students (10.2%). Mob actions and attacks by Robbers constituted 10.2%. Fifteen percent (15%) of the cases resulted from ear cleaning with cotton bud (10.2%), broom stick (3.2%) and metallic objects (2.2%). Sports related injuries accounted for 2.7% of the cases. Various forms of accidents (8.1%) such as road traffic accidents (1.1%), accidents from work place (3.2%) and fireworks (1.6%) were recorded. Conclusion: The predominance of slap as the major cause of TM perforation resulting from assaults shows how this condition is caused by avoidable circumstances. Every opportunity should be explored to educate the populace on the sequelae of such indiscriminate outburst of anger.