Diagnostic accuracy of video otoscope in membrane tympanic perforation

Abstract

Due to its location and thickness characteristics, the tympanic membrane is susceptible to perforation by various etiologies, which can cause otalgia, otorrhea, tinnitus and hearing loss in the patients. It is essential to perform a accurate otoscopy in these cases, as the size of the perforation, among other factors, can influence in complications, management, and prognosis of the patient. With this in mind, it is important to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of new methods, such as the video otoscope, since this has been shown to be relevant in the diagnosis and following of other otological pathologies, including in the scope of telemedicine and medical education. Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of video otoscope, when compared to conventional otoscope and microscope, in cases of tympanic membrane perforation in patients with otological symptoms seen in the Otorhinolaryngology section of a tertiary hospital. Methodology: This is a prospective study of diagnostic accuracy to be carried out in 2021 at Hospital de Reabilitação de Anomalias Craniofaciais (HRAC-USP) in the city of Bauru-SP. This is a tertiary hospital, of elective care, reference in otology and rehabilitation of craniofacial anomalies. After accepting to participate in the study, the participant will be evaluated by 3 different diagnostic methods (onto microscope, conventional otoscope and video otoscope), sequentially and blinded between the evaluators, to be performed by the hospital's otology team, which is composed by trained otolaryngologists. After the physical examination, the evaluators will fill in a checklist with the otoscopy findings, without sharing the results with the participant and other evaluators. At the end of data collection, the analysis of the main objective, the diagnostic accuracy of the methods used, will be performed with the McNemar test for paired data, comparing the diagnoses made by conventional method and by video to the gold standard - microscope. In addition, other analyzes will be made related to the secondary objectives of this study.(AU)