Middle Ear Ventilation Tubes - Tympanic Drainage

One of the most common and directly helpful ENT surgical interventions is the insertion of so-called ear tubes. The indication for this procedure is accumulation of fluid in the middle ear that is not treatable with medication or physical therapy. The effusion decreases the vibration ability of the eardrum and ossicles, thereby impacting the transmission of sound to the inner ear. In extreme cases, severe hearing loss occurs. The symptoms include chronic sinusitis, nasal septum deviation, allergies, or an acute inflammation of the middle ear that has not responded to treatment. These symptoms are common in both children and adults through the course of infection in upper airway disorders.

With children, we usually set the tympanic drainage in conjunction with adenoidectomy (removal of the polyps). We perform this with the child under short anesthesia, and with the adult patient under local anesthesia.

If these measures fail, the so-called "glue-ear" occurs, where the middle ear cavity is utterly filled with a sticky, glue-like fluid and the ossicular chain is fixated. In this event, only more extensive middle ear surgical procedures are possible (Tympanoplasty).