Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of the tympanic membrane atelectasis and treatment methods ,and to provide a reference value for future clinical diagnosis and treatment .Methods A retro‐spective analysis of 86 patients(104 ears) with tympanic membrane atelectasis treated in our hospital from June 2011 to August 2013 .Disease severity was classified according to the erasmus classification of atelectasis by Sade ,and pre- and post -operative air -bone gaps (ABG) were compared .Results There was no statistical difference of mastoid gasification on CT scan between mild and sever tympanic membrane atelectasis (P>0 .05) .While the sta‐tistical difference was found in two groups of whether there were soft tissues in middle ear and mastoid cavity on CT scan(P<0 .05) .There was an improvement in the average ABG for all stages .Conclusion This study demonstrated that surgical intervention had a favorable effect on hearing level across all stages .The treatment of atelectatic ears should be taken and individualized .