GMA: Children May Not Need Ear Tubes

B O S T O N,  April 19 -- Middle ear infections are the most common medical problem affecting pre-schoolers, and many parents send their children in for an ear operation to treat them.

About 700,000 children each year have ear tubes surgically placed to drain fluid and relieve the pressure, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

But a study released Thursday in New England Journal of Medicine suggests that many of those operations — designed to improve the speech and learning development of the youngsters — may not be worth either the risk or the cost.

"The bottom line," Dr. Jack L. Paradise of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh told the Associated Press, "was there wasn't any difference in the developmental outcomes, as best we could measure them at age 3."

But researchers also caution that longer periods of fluid in the ears, or more severe hearing loss than found in those studied, could affect development; problems that didn't show up at age 3 may also resurface later.

ABCNEWS' Dr. Tim Johnson says the study should not make parents think they should completely discount tubes as a solution for some children with ear problems.

"If you've got this kind of child — not having recurring infections, but residual fluid in the ear — talk to a real expert about whether or not you need to put tubes in," he said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "I think this study will say to them, 'Let's wait and see what happens.'"

Tubes Made No Difference

Almost all children experience middle ear inflammation at least once before age six, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Historically, the options have been either antibiotics or the ear-tube operation.

The Pittsburgh study looked at 402 children under age three who had fluid in the middle ear that lasted at least three months and was accompanied by mild to moderate hearing loss. One group of children has tubes inserted right away; the other had tubes inserted after the fluid in the ears had lingered for six to nine months.