Nasal instillation of physiological saline for patulous eustachian tube.
CONCLUSIONS
Patulous eustachian tube (ET) shows a wide range of manifestations from asymptomatic to severe disturbance in quality of life. Nasal instillation of saline should be attempted as the initial treatment for patulous ET.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effectiveness of nasal instillation of saline as a treatment for patulous ET.


METHODS
This was a retrospective chart review of 52 patients with patulous ET. They were treated with nasal instillation of saline, followed by assessment of subjective improvement after 2-8 weeks.


RESULTS
The age distribution of the patients with patulous ET revealed two peaks, one with female predominance in the fourth decade, the other consisting mostly of aged male patients. Nasal instillation of saline was effective in 33 (63.5%) of 52 patients with patulous ET. In particular, 20 (80%) of the 25 patients with short duration of disease obtained some improvement from the treatment. More effectiveness was observed in males (81.8%) than in females (50.0%).
Oshima
Takeshi
T
Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. oshima@orl.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Kikuchi
Toshiaki
T
Kawase
Tetsuaki
T
Kobayashi
Toshimitsu
T
D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005064:Eustachian Tube; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007322:Instillation, Drug; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D055815:Young Adult
D012965:Sodium Chloride