'Appropriateness' of Tympanostomy Tubes: Setting the Record Straight

Ventilation Tube Placement in a Managed Care Population

“…Although a multidisciplinary group working through the to identify children who had venti¬ lation tubes placed at an earlier date that were subsequently removed. 6 The epidemiological trends of ventilation tube placement evi¬ denced in our study closely parallel current trends in OM. Peak ventila-tion tube placement occurred in the 0to 12-month group, consistent with peak incidence of otitis in the 6to 12-month age period ( Figure 1).…”

Tympanostomy Tube Care for the Pediatrician

“…5 With time and familiarity, the indications expanded to include recurrent acute otitis media (RAOM) and other problems related to TM structural anomalies, such as atelectasis and deep retraction pockets. 6,7 Although several large studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of tympanostomy tubes in managing OME and RAOM, [8][9][10] the appropriate use of tympanostomy tubes remains controversial. This was demonstrated in a recent study by Keyhani et al, 11 where a significant majority of ear tube procedures were found to be inappropriately performed according to the explicit criteria and guidelines.…”

Studies in Otitis Media: Children's Hospital Of Pittsburgh–University of Pittsburgh Progress Report—2004

“…In an effort to determine the efficacy of the common surgical procedures to treat and prevent otitis media, the following clinical trials have been helpful in establishing the current guidelines 223,224 . Outcomes of clinical trials are summarized in Table IX, 13,225–228 followed by a more complete description.…”