Tympanostomy tube therapy for otitis media

Tympanostomy tube insertion as a treatment for otitis media, in the hands of capable surgeons and competent anesthetists and anesthesiologists, is almost free of intraoperative and postoperative complications. Myringotomy and tympanostomy tube insertion can effectively eliminate the conductive hearing loss of middle ear effusion and reduce the incidence of recurrent acute purulent otitis media and its sequelae. With proper patient selection (intractable middle ear effusion), appropriate treatment of associated conditions (maxillary sinusitis, allergy, nasopharyngeal infections), sterilization of the external auditory canal, and the use of least easily infected materials, tympanostomy tube insertion is an efficacious procedure.