Influence of suction tube noise on hearing in pediatric patients who received ventilation tube insertion.
BACKGROUND
Myringotomy with ventilation tube insertion is the most frequently used surgical procedure performed on children to treat otitis media with effusion. The risk of acoustic trauma caused by the suctioning noise during the procedure has not been clearly understood. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the suctioning noise during ventilation tube placement procedure damaged children's hearing.


METHODS
The study was conducted in a prospective manner. The ventilation tube placement procedures were performed on a series of 30 consecutive patients (60 ears). The electro-acoustic signals of the suctioning noises during the procedure were analyzed using a high quality digital tape recording system. The hearing threshold was measured using pure tone audiometry before and after the procedures.


RESULTS
The peak intensity of the suctioning noise ranged from 4 kHz to 10 kHz in frequency. The mean intensities of the suctioning noise were 86.4 +/- 9.6 dB for serous effusion and 96.4 +/- 9.6 dB for mucoid effusion, respectively. No noise-induced sensori-neural hearing loss was observed in this cohort.


CONCLUSIONS
Even though the peak intensity of the suctioning noise may reach a level of more than 90 dB, it is not likely that the suctioning noise during the ventilation tube placement procedure causes noise-induced sensori-neural hearing loss.
Jang
Chul Ho
CH
Department of Otolaryngology, Wonkwang Medical School, Iksan, Korea.
Song
Chang-Hun
CH
Kim
Seong-Hwan
SH
Wang
Pa-Chun
PC
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006317:Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013396:Suction / Q000009:adverse effects