Opening plugged tympanostomy tubes: Effect of inner diameter and shaft length:

Objective To determine whether tympanostomy tube (TT) inner diameter or shaft length impacts the rate of mucoid plug clearance. Study design and setting Ex vivo model. Silicone TTs with different inner-diameters (ID) and shaft-length (SL) pairings (1.14 mm ID × 12 mm SL versus 1.14 mm ID × 1 mm SL; 1.14 mm ID × 4.8 mm SL versus 1.32 mm ID × 4.8 mm SL) were plugged with middle-ear mucus (n = 15 per group) and placed in a model ear chamber. Ofloxacin otic solution was instilled into the chamber to cover the plugged TT, and the time to clearance of each plug was recorded. Results TTs with larger IDs ( P = 0.019) and greater SLs ( P = 0.033) cleared plugs more rapidly. However, the difference in the percentage of tubes that unplugged was not significant ( P = 0.151). Conclusions Rate of ex vivo TT plug clearance may be altered by changing TT ID and SL.