Tympanoplasty: does dry or wet temporalis fascia graft matter?

Objectives: To evaluate the success rate of dry and wet temporalis fascia grafts in type I underlay tympanoplasty. Methods: A prospective, randomised study was conducted. One hundred adult patients (males and females) with chronic suppurative otitis media (mucosal type) were divided into 2 groups of 50 each: one group underwent dry graft tympanoplasty and the other underwent wet graft tympanoplasty. Fibroblast count was calculated in dry and wet grafts. Results: The dry graft and wet graft groups had overall surgical success rates of 82 and 90 per cent, respectively; this finding was not statistically significant. A statistically significant high fibroblast count was observed in wet grafts, but it did not correlate with surgical success. Conclusion: A dry or wet temporalis fascia graft does not influence the outcome of tympanoplasty type I.