Two studies assessing the long-term safety of treating young children's chronic ear infections by implanting ventilation tubes generally confirm the treatment. With an average of 14 years after 237 children received the tubes, initially under the age of two, their hearing was greatly normal, reported Hannu Valtonen, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at the Kuopio University Hospital here in the April issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Of the 177 ears that completely healed, the average hearing level was as small as 4.3 decibels, meaning they can hear very faint sounds. The average among all ears treated was 5.8 decibels. Only 5.5% of the 237 children had a hearing level worse than 15 decibels; a hearing level of less than or equal to 15 decibels is considered normal "Our long-term results show that from the hearing point of view early tympanostomy tube insertion is justified and should not be unnecessarily delayed if conservative treatment fails," the researchers concluded. "Most of the hearing loss in the present series was minor and related to unsuccessful otological outcomes, not to the tympanostomy tube insertion." In a second study, the researchers performed a check up on the children to see if their ears had healed and if there were any negative conclusions. They examined medical records and seeked any information of repeat procedures or more intense surgeries. Indeed the healing process is slow, with the majority of ears (74.7%) healing at 14 years, compared to 65.8% when they were examined five years after surgery. Additionally the number of negative conclusions decreased from 34.2% at five years to 25.3% at 14 years. "We recommend early VT therapy as the treatment of choice in young children with persistent OME [otitis media with effusion] or RAOM [recurrent acute otitis media]," the researchers concluded. "However, before institution of therapy, parents should be informed of the possible need for repeated ventilation tube insertion, of the long follow-up, and of potential sequelae, especially tympanostomy perforations, that sometimes necessitate surgical intervention," the scientists added. The researchers also found that if the ear completely healed after just five years it "almost invariably" remained healed |
