Anyone had to go for a second operation ?
Hi hondwagen
please see my thread at the end of ryan's post
regards
Yes indeed. My first cholesteatoma took 2 procedures to fully clear and to allow for reconstruction. I've been in for a 3rd operation in 2012 to clear a full recurrence that took out the reconstruction and further eroded the skull.
If your cholesteatoma is well concentrated and localized (in a roughly ball shape) it can be cleared in a single procedure. If instead it's extending 'processes' throughout the surrounding areas, it can take two or more procedures to clear.
Upon glancing at your original post again I wonder if you meant a 2nd procedure regarding a recurrence of the cholesteatoma. This isn't terribly uncommon at about 10-15% of cases within 1 to 3 years. Reviewing the medical literature, long term rate of recurrence isn't terribly well studied but reports range from 40-60% of cases.