The efficacy of CO2 laser myringotomy in serous otitis media.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the efficacy of CO2 laser myringotomy combined with adenoidectomy in children with serous otitis media (SOM) unresponsive to medical therapy and compared the recurrences in the follow-up period with the control group who underwent adenoidectomy and ventilation tube (VT) insertion.


METHODS
The CO2 laser myringotomy group included 25 children with a mean age of 5.6 years and there were 10 children with a mean age of 6.3 years in the VT control group. The laser used was a Sharplan 1030 CO2 laser, attached to Zeiss Universal S3 operation microscope with a 300 mm objective, using a Microspot optical delivery system.


RESULTS
The mean (+/-SD) healing time was 13 (+/-2.16) days in 4 ears with myringotomies less than 2 mm in diameter, and 25 (+/-2.34) days in 46 ears with myringotomies with 2 mm in diameter. During the 6-month follow-up period, there were 11 recurrences (22%) in the CO2 laser group and 4 recurrences (20%) in the control group, which was not statistically significant (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
We prefer laser myringotomy in SOM cases who do not need long-time middle ear ventilation; we use the ventilation tubes in cases with thick mucoid effusion and recurrent effusion after laser myringotomy.
Bozkurt
Mete Kaan
MK
Department of Otolaryngology, Medicine Faculty of Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey. bozkurtmetekaan@hotmail.com
Calgüner
Mustafa
M
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation / Q000379:methods*; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome