Effect of grommet insertion on hearing of patients with secretory otitis media

Aim: to determine improvement in hearing after grommet insertion in pts with secretory otitis media. subjects and methods: the study was conducted from february 2009 to april 2010 in admitted patients of fauji foundation hospital,rawalpindi. the study was conducted on 45 ears with secretory otitis media. tympanic membranes of both ears were examined,pure tone audiometery (pta) and tympanometry was done pre-operatively. hearing loss was documented. during surgery under general anesthesia,a grommet was inserted in anterior-inferior quadrant of tympanic membrane. after surgery,pta was repeated postoperatively before discharge of patient from hospital. results: mean age was 13.8±10.96 years. the degree of preoperative hearing loss was mild (20-40 db) in 8.9% ears,moderate (40-60 db) in 86.7% ears and severe (60-80 db) in 4.4% ears. patients were reevaluated and pure tone audiograms were obtained after grommet insertion. the degree of post-operative hearing loss was mild (20-40 db) in 77.8% ears,moderate (40-60 db) in 22.2% ears and severe (60-80 db) in none. no improvement in hearing was noted in 24.4% ears,5-10 db improvement was noted in 64.4% ears and 10-20 db improvement was noted in 11.1% cases. there was a statistically significant difference in the pre-operative and post-operative hearing loss in the ears,the hearing loss was significantly lower after grommet insertion; p= 0.016. conclusion: grommet insertion produces significant improvement in hearing in patients with secretory otitis media.