Partial Thickness vs Full Thickness Tragal Cartilage Grafts in Endoscopic Type 1 Tympanoplasty

March 10, 2026 updated by: Monica Gamil Tawfiq, Assiut University

Outcome of Partial-thickness vs Full-thickness Tragal Cartilage Grafts in Endoscopic Type 1 Tympanoplasty in Adults.

Primary Objective: Compare 6-month graft success rates between 0.5 mm sliced and 1.8 mm full-thickness tragal cartilage grafts.(3) H1: Sliced cartilage yields ≥90% success versus ≤80% for full-thickness.(3) H0: No difference between arms.

Secondary Objectives:

  • PTA-ABG closure at 6/12 months.(4)
  • Speech discrimination score improvement.(4)
  • Operative time.(6)

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

chronic suppurative otitis media with tympanic membrane perforation impacts a large number of adults worldwide, more in rural Upper Egypt due to recurrent infections.(1) These perforations cause ongoing ear discharge, hearing impairment, quality-of-life decline, and increased healthcare costs.(1) Conventional temporalis fascia grafting achieves 80-90% success in small defects but drops below 70% for subtotal/large perforations (>50%tympanic membrane area) or with Eustachian tube issues.(2) Tragal cartilage grafting offers superior durability, with meta-analyses showing 92-98% closure rates versus 82-88% for fascia graft .(3) Full-thickness cartilage (>1.5 mm), however, risks acoustic mass-loading, worsening high-frequency hearing by 8-12 dB at 4 kHz.(4) Partial-thickness slicing (0.4-0.6 mm) maintains strength while enhancing sound transmission, as shown in clinical series.(5) Endoscopic approaches further improve visualization and reduce operative trauma.(6) No randomized trials compare sliced versus full-thickness tragal cartilage in adult endoscopic tympanoplasty.(7,8) This pilot study fills that gap, optimizing technique for local needs before

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Inclusion (all required):

  • Age 18-65 years.
  • safe chronic perforation ≥6 months.
  • Subtotal (25-75%) or large (>75%) pars tensa defect.
  • Dry ear ≥3 months (culture-negative).
  • Intact ossicles, healthy mucosa.
  • Viable tragal cartilage.
  • Informed written consent capability.

Exclusion criteria :

  • unsafe otitis,
  • active discharge,
  • Eustachian dysfunction e.g cleft palate,
  • ossicular defects
  • prior surgery,
  • unfit patients
  • non-compliance

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18-65 years.
  • safe chronic perforation ≥6 months.
  • Subtotal (25-75%) or large (>75%) pars tensa defect.
  • Dry ear ≥3 months (culture-negative).
  • Intact ossicles, healthy mucosa.
  • Viable tragal cartilage.
  • Informed written consent capability.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • unsafe otitis,
  • active discharge,
  • Eustachian dysfunction e.g cleft palate,
  • ossicular defects
  • prior surgery,
  • unfit patients
  • non-compliance

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Outcome of partial-thickness vs full-thickness tragal cartilage grafts in endoscopic type 1 tympanoplasty in adults.
Time Frame: baseline
Outcome of partial-thickness vs full-thickness tragal cartilage grafts in endoscopic type 1 tympanoplasty in adults.
baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Assiut University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

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Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 10, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 10, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • grafts in endoscopy

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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