Should Children With Cleft Palate Receive Early Long-Term Tympanostomy Tubes: One Institution's Experience.

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether children with cleft palate might benefit from early long-term tympanostomy tubes with the hypothesis that receiving multiple tubes is associated with shorter duration of first tubes.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Tertiary care children's hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Records from 401 consecutive children with cleft palate ± cleft lip, born April 2005 to April 2010, were reviewed. After exclusion of children with cleft repair at an outside hospital, no follow-up after 5 years of age, intact secondary palate, no tubes, or tube replacement at palatoplasty, 105 children remained.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Number of tubes.

RESULTS

Armstrong grommet tubes were placed at a median age of 6.7 months (range 2.3-19.6 months). Tubes were replaced in 55.3% of patients, with 34.0% receiving ≥3 sets. Duration of first tubes was significantly longer for children with 1 set of tubes compared with those with multiple sets (median 26 vs 19 months, P = .004). Otorrhea, but not perforation, was associated with longer duration of first tubes (median 27 vs 20.5 months, P = .028). Cleft type did not impact the proportion of patients with multiple tubes. Median age at last tube placement for children with multiple tubes was 5.0 years (range 1.9-8.7 years).

CONCLUSION

Short duration of first tubes is associated with receiving multiple tubes. Because most patients require repeat tubes and many require tubes until school age, there is a significant need for controlled, prospective trials of early long-term tube placement in this population.