title: The use of ventilation tubes and the incidence of cholesteatoma surgery in the paediatric population of Liverpool.
abstract: Many surgeons believe that grommet insertion has reduced the incidence of cholesteatoma and thus radical mastoidectomy. Several causes for this trend have been postulated, including the increased use of ventilation tubes to treat otitis media with effusion. We have studied the number of operations for cholesteatoma, together with the number of ventilation tube insertions in the paediatric population of Liverpool, over a 28-year period between 1963 and 1990. There was a decline in the number of operations for cholesteatoma and an increase in the use of ventilation tubes, but there was no significant correlation between the two. This suggests that other factors are responsible for the decline in surgery for cholesteatoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Roland
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002781:Cholesteatoma / Q000601:surgery*; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D004432:Ear, Middle; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data