Extrusion rate of Shah and Shepard ventilation tubes in children

Shah and Shepard ventilation tubes are the two most commonly used ventilation tube in current practice. In some centres these two tubes are used interchangeably, in others the Shepard is often used as the first 'grommet' of insertion and the Shah for subsequent insertions. A study was undertaken of extrusion rate of these ventilation tubes in 180 children who had surgery for Serous otitis media in 1987. Extrusion time was found to be very significantly different between these tubes. The Shah ventilation tube remains in situ 3 months longer than the Shepard. A case is made for the use of Shah ventilation tubes as the first "grommet" of insertion. Otorrhoea following insertion of ventilation tube did not affect the extrusion rate of ventilation tubes in this study. Nor has otorrhoea a predilection for any particular ventilation tube.