Learning Objectives:

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess relationship between the material of ventilation tubes(VTs) and VTs extrusion time, among various factors affecting the extrusion rate of ventilation tubes.

Study Design: A prospective, clinical trial.

Method: This clinical trial was conducted in 39 patients, 78 ears with VTs insertion. The 1.02 sized VT was placed in one ear, the 1.14 sized VT was placed in contralateral ear. The patients was evaluated about VTs extrusion history following every month. The extrusion time of VTs in the ears was compared with the contralateral ears. Date included ventilation tube type, discharge characters(scanty, serous, mucoid, glue), multiple intubation(first, multiple), comorbidities, passive smoking, early occlusion, otorrhea or inflammation findings, and age. To minimize additional complicating factors, patients undergoing concurrent tonsillitis, adenoid hypertrophy, siniusitis, and allergic rhinitis were excluded from this study.

Result: There were 41 patients in this study, with a median age of 3.5 years. The mean extrusion time of 1.02 sized ventilation type was 7.94 months, whereas 1.14 sized ventilation type was 6.33 months. In the 1.02 sized VTs, average extrusion time was significantly longer (p = 0.02). When the mean extrusion rate associated with age, discharge character, multiple intubation, comorbidities, and otorrhea was compared with ventilation tubes respectively, there were no significant differences. In addition, it seemed early occlusion and passive smoking affected slightly extrusion time, but no statistical significance.

Conclusion: There was a small but statistically singnificant increase in the extrusion rate of VTs in patients with the 1.02 sized ventilation tube type. Compared with the 1.02 sized VT and the 1.14 sized VT, the quality of material in ventilation tube was significantly related to the VTs extrusion time. Thus, It would need to consider why the nature of the material affected extrusion rate.