[Diagnosis and therapy of seromucous otitis. Experience with 2766 operations on children]

We compared tympanometric patterns with the type of ear effusion on 1693 ears of children with chronic seromucous otitis. There was no exact agreement between the tympanograms and the viscosity of the middle ear effusion. We inserted ventilating tubes in 943 of 2766 ears with SOM. A tube was only used if there was mucus in the middle ear. In cases of thin fluid we used myringotomy alone. A test to find the best tube is discussed. For a child with SOM the insertion of a ventilation tube is so helpful and complications so rare that in our opinion there is no better way of treatment. The complications are probably related more to the underlying disease than to the ventilation tube.