One-year follow-up after tympanostomy tube insertion for recurrent acute otitis media.
In a prospective study, 126 children were followed for 1 year after the placement of tympanostomy tubes especially for recurrent acute otitis media. About 7 in 10 children remained free of middle ear infection and 1 in 10 showed frequent (i.e. 3 or more) episodes of otorrhea during the follow-up period. However, the most conclusive observation was that the otorrhea episodes were not equally distributed over the different ages: they were markedly more frequent in the group younger then 2 years old, although the prestudy infection rate was similar in all age groups. Furthermore, the incidence of middle ear infection was positively correlated with upper respiratory infection but not with other variables such as prestudy spontaneous perforations, contents of the middle ear, presence of the tube at the end of the study, and swimming habits. It seems that middle ear infection with ventilation tubes in place is influenced by age and upper respiratory infection as it is for acute otitis media in the population as a whole.
Debruyne
F
F
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Degroote
M
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors