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Opening plugged tympanostomy tubes: effect of inner diameter and shaft length
Ajay J Mehta1, Gary R Stevens, Patrick J Antonelli
1Department of Otolaryngology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610-0264, USA.
Objective:
To determine whether tympanostomy tube (TT) inner diameter or shaft length impacts the rate of mucoid plug clearance.
Study Design And Setting:
Ex vivo model. Silicone TTs with different inner-diameters (ID) and shaft-length (SL) pairings (1.14 mm ID x 12 mm SL versus 1.14 mm ID x 1 mm SL; 1.14 mm ID x 4.8 mm SL versus 1.32 mm ID x 4.8 mm SL) were plugged with middle-ear mucus (n = 15 per group) and placed in a model ear chamber. Ofloxacin otic solution was instilled into the chamber to cover the plugged TT, and the time to clearance of each plug was recorded.
Results:
TTs with larger IDs ( P = 0.019) and greater SLs ( P = 0.033) cleared plugs more rapidly. However, the difference in the percentage of tubes that unplugged was not significant ( P = 0.151).
Conclusions:
Rate of ex vivo TT plug clearance may be altered by changing TT ID and SL.
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