Abstract
We studied 97 ears of 50 children with otitis media with effusion (OME), undergoing insertion of a long-term ventilation tube between February 1989 and January 1994 in contrast with a previous study of 49 ears of 27 children with OME who were undergone insertion of a short-term ventilation tube. The tubes used for this study included a Butterfly ventilation tube for 78 ears, Shepard grommet for 16 ears and Paparella type I for 3 ears. Simultaneous adenoidectomy was performed on 30 patients. Follow-up examinations consisting of color and retraction of the ear drums, audiometric evaluation such as pure tone audiometry and tympanometry, were scheduled routinely every month. The overall mean follow-up period was 27.9 months. Extrusion occurred after an average of 17.5 months. In April 1994, 46 ears appeared to be effusion-free, however 18 ears developed recurrent OME. The percentage of effusion-free patients in this study was higher than that in the previous study. There was no significant difference between the mean period until extrustion in the effusion-free group and that in the recurrent group.
We discussed the relation between OME recurrence and upper respiratory infection after the tube dropped out, as well as complications.
