Abstract

Middle ear disease is common in childhood and is often associated with hearing loss. Seventy-one percent of all children have at least an episode of otitis media with effusion (OME) by age three. The high incidence of OME in patients with middle ear disease led to the conclusion that treatment with tympanostomy tube insertion (TTI) would solve the inevitable hearing loss associated with middle ear disease. Studies reporting an association between hearing loss and TTI are conflicting and warrant a systematic review of the evidence.

Key words: tympanostomy, otitis media, conductive hearing loss