SIMPLE mastoidectomy is performed mostly to eradicate infection in the mastoid bone, to prevent or treat intracranial complications and to stop the discharge from the middle ear—in other words, to save the patient's life and hearing.
Since 1873, when Schwartze and Eysell1 described their systematic operation, otologists have followed that method in principle, with slight individual modification. On the other hand, they have tried many different procedures to shorten the time of hospitalization, the time of healing of the postaural wound and, in particular, the time taken for the discharge from the ear to stop. Because, the longer that time is, the greater is the loss of hearing and vice versa.
To achieve the aforementioned ends, I have tried the following methods during the last twenty-one years.
METHODS
Method 1.—Before sulfanilamide was used locally in septic wounds, I was in the habit, after complete exenteration of the mastoid cells, of