Ventilation tubes in infants increase the risk of otorrhoea and antibiotic usage

1) PROBLEM/OBJECTIVE: The effect of ventilation tubes on acute otitis related symptoms (otorrhoea, earache, and fever) and on antibiotic usage was investigated in children with persistent otitis media with effusion, as part of a multicenter, randomised, controlled clinical trial. 2) METHODOLOGY: One hundred-eighty-seven children were randomly placed into either a watchful waiting group (WW group) (n = 94) or a group treated with ventilation tubes (VT group) (n = 93). Both groups were followed for 12 months. Data were collected from parental reports and from medical files kept by the attending ENT-surgeons. 3) RESULTS: There were significant differences in the reported frequency of otorrhoea (but not of earache or fever) between both groups during follow-up, i.e. children in the VT group had more episodes of otorrhoea than the children in the WW group (p < 0.003). As a consequence, children in the VT group had been prescribed antibiotics more often. 4) CONCLUSIONS: Young children treated with ventilation tubes due to persistent otitis media with effusion have a higher risk of developing otorrhoea because of the tubes, and they have a higher risk of needing treatment with antibiotics.