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Background: Cholesteatoma is a formation of epithelium mass in the middle ear. Surgery aims to prevent complications while maintain or improve hearing.

Aims/Objectives: To determine if waiting time until cholesteatoma surgery affects hearing outcome and patients’ satisfaction.

Material and Methods: A retrospective cohort study performed at the only Ear Nose Throat clinic in one county in Sweden. Sixty concomitant surgeries, both first time and revisions, were included.

Results: Of the 60 surgeries, 33 (55%) were performed within a 3-month period. The mean waiting time was 1.4 months. In the remaining 27 cases, the mean waiting time was 8.6 months. Both groups had preoperatively similar air conduction pure tone average (AC PTA4), 47.3 dB and 47.0 dB respectively. The mean AC PTA4 gain was greater in the group with waiting time ≤3 months (8.6 dB) compared to the >3 months group (1.2 dB, p = 0.040). The patients’ satisfaction was lower in the latter group, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions: This study indicates that longer waiting time to cholesteatoma surgery has a negative impact on postoperative hearing results but not on patients’ satisfaction.

Significance: The outcome of this study suggests that waiting time to surgery can be a factor determining postoperative hearing results.