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The findings suggest that a significant minority of UK surfers have no knowledge about this condition. Knowledge of external auditory canal exostosis was significantly associated with earplug use when surfing. Efforts to improve surfers' knowledge are required to enable surfers to better protect themselves, which could reduce the incidence of external auditory canal exostosis.

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Background Myringoplasty success rate is estimated to be between 60 and 90 per cent. Factors predicting success include the choice of graft and use of auditory canal packing. This study aimed to determine the intra-operative factors associated with endoscopic myringoplasty success. Methods A retrospective review of all endoscopic myringoplasty cases between January 2017 and January 2020 was undertaken. Data were collected on: patient demographics, tympanic membrane perforation size, intra-operative details, audiology and post-operative outcomes. Results There was no significant difference in graft success rates between cases using bismuth iodoform paraffin paste and Spongostan packing (86.7 per cent vs 84.9 per cent, respectively). Conchal cartilage graft had a higher success rate (100.0 per cent) compared with Biodesign grafting biomaterial (66.7 per cent), but was not superior to tragal cartilage (84.6 per cent) or temporalis fat or fascia (80.0 per cent). Conclusion Spongostan packing is equivalent to bismuth iodoform paraffin paste in terms of endoscopic myringoplasty success rate. Although conchal cartilage graft had higher success rates, it was not statistically significantly different from tragal cartilage.

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