Placement of transtympanic drains in adult patients with otitis media

Abstract

Introduction: The tympanic drains are tubes that are placed in the eardrum and are substitutes for the function of the Eustachian tube with equal order of importance: first, ventilation and second, drainage.

Objective: To characterize the behavior of the placement of transtympanic ventilation tubes in patients treated at the Central Military Hospital “Dr. Carlos J. Finlay”.

Methods: A descriptive, longitudinal and prospective study was carried out, during the period between October 2018 and June 2021. The universe consisted of 62 patients who had a transtympanic ventilation tube placed during the period in which the study was carried out. The sample matched the universe.

Results: A predominance of patients older than 60 years (37.1 %) and females (48.6 %) was found; the main cause was serous otitis media (91.9 %). 91.9 % of the cases had clinical improvement in less than 7 days after the surgical procedure. 64.5 % spontaneously expelled the transtympanic ventilation tube between 6 and 12 months. 98.4 % of the patients did not present complications.

Conclusions: Transtympanic ventilation tubes were an effective method to restore tympanic ventilation in the study patients, and the evolution of the procedure was satisfactory in most cases, free of complications.