A 14-year prospective follow-up study of children treated early in life with tympanostomy tubes: Part 2: Hearing outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
To determine hearing outcomes in young children receiving early and repeated tympanostomy tube insertion for recurrent acute otitis media or otitis media with effusion.


METHODS
Prospective 14-year follow-up.


METHODS
Central Hospital of Central Finland, a tertiary care hospital. Patients Three hundred five consecutive infants and young children with otitis media received initial tympanostomy tube insertion at the age of 5 to 16 months. The final study group comprised 237 patients (77.7%) attending the 14-year checkups.


METHODS
At the 14-year checkups, children received clinical examinations and audiometric testing for the determination of bone and air conduction pure-tone thresholds.


RESULTS
The mean pure-tone average of 177 healed ears was 4.3 dB. The mean pure-tone average of all ears was 5.8 dB, with significantly poorer results in ears with abnormal outcomes such as grade II or higher pars tensa retraction, otitis media with effusion, and tympanic membrane perforation. Thirteen (5.5%) of 237 ears had a hearing level worse than 15 dB, and the better ear hearing level was poorer than 15 dB in 3 patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The hearing level of healed ears was comparable to that of age-matched normal ears. Hearing losses were infrequent, of slight grade, and, when present, almost exclusively conductive and related to unsuccessful otological outcomes. From the hearing point of view, repeated tympanostomy tube insertion for recurrent acute otitis media or otitis media with effusion early in life is a safe treatment.
Valtonen
Hannu
H
Author Affiliations: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland. hannu.valtonen@kuh.fi
Tuomilehto
Henri
H
Qvarnberg
Yrjö
Y
Nuutinen
Juhani
J
D000293:Adolescent; D001299:Audiometry; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001844:Bone Conduction; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000601:surgery*; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000601:surgery; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome