Appropriateness of tympanostomy tubes.
We identified 38 children who had tympanostomy tubes placed during a one-year period. We used appropriateness criteria and retrospective medical record review to determine if tympanostomy tube placement was appropriate or inappropriate. We asked parents for outcome information about their child 12 months after tubes were placed. We counted ENT-related clinic visits for 12 months before tubes and 12 months after tubes. The results showed that 20 of 38 (53%) patients were referred appropriately for tubes. One year after the procedure, 95% of parents felt their child was better. The appropriate groups had an average of 9.05 ear-related clinic visits in the year before tubes and 4.80 visits in the year after tubes. The inappropriate group had an average of 7.44 ear-related visits in the year before tubes and 5.17 visits in the year after surgery. Although this difference is not statistically significant at 95% confidence interval, it suggests a relationship of less resource utilization for those with appropriate tube placement, but little change for those placed inappropriately.
Spilseth
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St. Croix Valley Clinic, Stillwater, Minnesota 55082.
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000601:surgery*; D010821:Physicians, Family; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000639:trends; D012040:Regional Health Planning; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents