INT. J. PEDIATR. OTORHINOLARYNGOL. 30/2 (1994) 111-114

Tympanostomy tubes and early post-operative otorrhea

Kinsella J.B., Fenton B.J., Donnelly M.J., Mcshane D.P.

Department of Otolaryngology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 S. University, Galveston, TX 775S0-0521, USA

Abstract
Otorrhea is a recognized complication of tympanostomy tube insertion. This may be caused by external contamination or by the pre-existing conditions in the middle ear cleft. Some surgeons try to reduce the risk of surgical contamination by using a non-touch technique never allowing the gloved hand to come into contact with the tympanostomy tube. A prospective study was carried out on 66 children to evaluate the efficacy of the non-touch technique. One tympanostomy tube was inserted by the non-touch method with the contralateral ear acting as a touched control in each patient. Postoperative otorrhea occurred within 10 days in 1.67% of the non-touch ears and in 1.67% of the controls. This study demonstrates a low incidence of otorrhea in the early post-operative period with either technique. Timeconsuming and costly sterile precautions are unnecessary for this common procedure.

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