|
University of Iowa Health Science Relations and
Daniel Fick, MD
Associate Professor of Family Medicine
First Published: 2002
Last Revised: May 2003
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed
One of the most common procedures requiring anesthesia for children
is a myringotomy, or placing a tube through the eardrum. Why is it so
common? Because children often get earaches, and both parents and
children want the pain from the earache to stop--and not come
back.
While pain and prevention are powerful reasons, should they alone
determine your treatment options? Ask your health care provider if
there are options other than a surgical procedure to help your child
(and you) survive earaches.
UI Family Care physician Daniel Fick, MD, believes that too
often tubes are used as an early option (and sometimes the only
option) offered to parents when deciding how to treat their
child's recurring ear infections. "In our rush to help ease the
pain of earaches we often use tubes when they may not be
necessary."
Fick suggests that a regimen of antibiotics and then the
appropriate period of observation can be just as effective to treat
the earache while eliminating the need for surgery for young
children.
An exception, he says, can be when a child's hearing is
impaired. One of the most common complications from an ear infection
is the build up of fluid in the middle ear. Antibiotics alone cannot
get rid of the fluid. (Antibiotics are used to combat the infection
that causes the build up of fluid in the ear.)
When the Eustachian tube in young children does not function
properly it doesn't drain the fluid from the middle ear. When
fluid remains in the middle ear, it blocks or muffles sound and your
child can experience a hearing loss. Young children learn to speak by
listening, and if their hearing is muffled by fluid in the middle
ear, their speech patterns may be affected. A myringotomy drains the
fluids and prevents the build up of fluids in the future.
|
