Healing large Traumatic Tympanic Membrane Perforations Using Vaseline Gauze and Gelfoam Patching Alone

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of vaseline gauze (VG) patching on the treatment of large traumatic perforation of tympanic membrane (TM). 90 patients with traumatic perforation larger than 25% of the TM were randomly allocated into the control group of observation only, VG group, and Gelfoam patch alone group. The closure rate and closure time among the 3 groups were compared at 3 months. In total, 82 large traumatic perforations were analyzed in this study. The closure rates in the control, VG, and gelfoam patch groups were 84.6%, 100.0%, and 89.3%, respectively ( = 0.637). Post-hoc multiple comparisons showed that the difference between the control and VG groups was significant ( = 0.047), but the difference wasn't significant between gelfoam alone and control groups ( = 0.699) or VG groups ( = 0.236). The mean closure times were 5.41 ± 1.47, 2.14 ± 0.93, and 3.00 ± 0.62 weeks for the control, VG, and gelfoam patch groups, respectively ( < 0.001). Post-hoc multiple comparisons showed that the difference was significant between the control and VG groups ( < 0.001) or gelfoam alone group ( < 0.001) or VG and gelfoam groups ( < 0.05). VG improved the closure rate and shortened the closure time compared with observation only, which could be an effective patch material for repairing traumatic lager perforations in the outpatient setting, which is readily available and convenient.