Author(s)
Nathan Cheng
Jessie Zhang, MD
David Cheng, MD
Affiliation(s)
Kaiser Permanente;
Abstract:
Introduction: Myringotomy, the surgical perforation of the eardrum to ventilate the middle ear space for the drainage and prevention of otitis media, can result in post-op otorrhea in 1-18% of surgeries. Often, antibiotic ear drops are placed at the site of incision to help prevent bacterial infection.
Purpose and Methods: This study analyzes in retrospective manner the results of 500 unique myringotomy procedures in order to correlate various variables with post-surgical otorrhea.
Results: 7% of surgeries that utilized titanium reuter bobbin tubes and 10.3% of surgeries that utilized fluoroplastic tubes resulted in otorrhea. 94.9% of cases did not use antibiotics, nor did they result in otorrhea. Of those who did use antibiotics, 67.5% resulted in otorrhea.
Conclusion: Titanium reuter bobbin tubes were found to be more effective than fluoroplastic tubes at preventing ear drainage. Moreover, the usage of antibiotic drops during the surgery appeared to have an insignificant effect in preventing otorrhea in patients.