PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Tympanostomy (ear) tubes have been used for decades to reduce the rate of ear infections in young children. A study from the University of Pittsburgh, however, found that they may not be necessary much of the time.
Doctors often treat ear infections with oral antibiotics, however they typically recommend ear tubes for children who experience frequent infections. They require surgery though, which comes with risks.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh took 250 kids already prone to ear infections. Half of them got tubes implanted, the other took oral antibiotics. The researchers followed them for two years and found no difference in the total number of ear infections or severity of them between the groups.
Lead researcher, Dr. Alejandro Hoberman, says he hopes the findings will encourage change to current treatment guidelines, which still recommend tubes for a child with more than three infections in a three-month-period.
"There is cost involved, there are some risks involved, although minimal, but there are some risks involved...why do so if children potentially get better, no matter what," Hoberman said.
The trial results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, are among the first since the pneumococcal vaccine was added to pediatric vaccination schedules, providing updated evidence that may help shape pediatric guidelines on treating recurrent ear infections.
Despite their greater use of antibiotics, the trial found no evidence of increased bacterial resistance among children in the medical-management group.
Regardless of treatment, the researchers found that all of the children had fewer ear infections as they got older. Children under a year old also got infections twice as often as those who were between 2 and 3-years-old.
The complete study can be found here.