While surgery definitely has a role in the management of recurrent ear infections, it does not guarantee that a child will be completely free of ear infections in the future. Other factors need to be considered prior to resorting to a surgical solution.

Ear Tubes

How does surgery help to curb recurrent ear infections? The premise of the surgery is rather straightforward. As you already understand, ear infections occur when the Eustachian tube fails to drain the fluid from the middle ear. Since surgeons cannot remodel the internal structure of the Eustachian tube easily, they add an alternative route for drainage of the fluid. Instead of having the middle ear fluid drain through the Eustachian tube and into the throat, surgeons create a small hole in the eardrum and place a small plastic tube through the aperture to keep it open. Without this plastic tube, the eardrum would quickly heal itself and seal up the hole within a week or two.

The technical aspect of this surgery is relatively easy. Most surgeons can adeptly accomplish it within half an hour. However, the downside of this procedure does not lie in the surgery itself. The greatest risk for a child undergoing this intervention is the anesthesia involved. In order to perform the surgery with the child completely motionless, surgeons need to sedate the child completely, using general anesthesia. This means that your child must be put to sleep and completely paralyzed during the procedure. Even though most children do well under anesthesia, a small percentage experience serious reactions. While the exact level of risk is difficult to generalize for all pediatric patients, this is a risk for any child undergoing elective surgery.

The Overlooked Allergy

It is not uncommon for children suffering from nasal allergy to be referred for ear-tube placement when their allergy symptoms have not been controlled. For these children, the ear tubes often fail to provide relief. This is because the underlying reason for their numerous ear infections has not been properly dealt with.

Instead of immediately being subjected to the surgical option, children with frequent ear infections need to first be evaluated for nasal allergy. More often than not, after their nasal allergy is under control, they experience a dramatic reduction in ear infection frequency. Most of these children will never require surgery to cure their problem with chronic ear infections.

The bottom line is that ear-tube placement should be considered the treatment of last resort for ear infections. Other means of reducing ear infections, such as taking a low-dose antibiotic on a daily basis, could be considered prior to opting for surgery.

A Temporary Solution

Before having your children undergo ear-tube surgery, you must understand that the placement of ear tubes may offer only a temporary respite from infections. Once these tubes are placed through the eardrums, they are destined to fall out sooner or later, usually within nine to eighteen months. In some unfortunate patients, these tubes are rejected by the body in less than six months. Having the tubes stay in the eardrums is completely harmless. They do not affect your child's hearing. However, there is no way to predict how long the tubes are going to stay in place once they are inserted.

It's not uncommon for some children to have this surgery repeatedly because the tubes fall out so quickly. Frequent surgeries increase the chance of anesthesia complication for these children, which is another reason parents should hesitate before submitting their children to surgery over and over again.