Not every kid should get ear tubes to relieve excessive fluid buildup in the middle-ear canal, says a first-ever clinical guideline for physicians released last week. An extensive body of r ...

Ear tube surgery is very common in the U.S., with an estimated 667,000 kids under 15 years of age getting the procedure each year, the authors note in Pediatrics.

Then we insert this teeny-tiny little ear tube into the eardrum [tympanostomy], which allows the fluid to come out of the middle ear space and prevent it from building up behind the eardrum,” Dr ...

The tubes have been shown to reduce the number of infections in children who have recurring ear problems. Tubes also are thought to be a good idea for children with persistent fluid buildup ...

For the current study, researchers examined data on 2,274 patients who received ear tubes in 2010 and 2011. On average, patients were about 2.6 years old, although people up to age 24 were included.

Just over 400 of the children were diagnosed with persistent middle-ear fluid before age 3. About half got tubes immediately and the other half did not.

The most common reasons for placing ear tubes are recurrent ear infections and fluid that remains behind the ear drum. More than 80 percent of children have at least one episode of ear infections ...

It is generally believed that ear fluid has to be removed as it hinders development in children. But this study suggests that inserting ear tubes to remove ear fluid do not improve developmental ...

They don't have chronic, painful infections. Instead, they've been prescribed tubes because fluid frequently builds up in their ear drum, often after a cold. This fluid can muffle sound.

Creating a blueprint for optimized ear tubes and other implantable fluid-transporting devices Date: April 5, 2023 Source: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard Summary: ...