WEDNESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- A new device meant to make
surgical treatment of ear infections safer and faster has been
developed by a University of Virginia team.
The device, which combines three of the tools used in the
surgical implantation of ear ventilation tubes, has shown promising
results in clinical trials.
Each year in the United States, about 2.2 million children need
to have tubes implanted for the treatment of chronic ear infections
(otitis media) with effusion. The tubes are inserted to relieve
pressure and fluid build-up.
"Currently, the procedure is tedious," team co-leader Shayn
Peirce-Cottler, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at
the university's School of Engineering and Applied Science, said in
a prepared statement.
"Small tubes two to three millimeters in diameter are inserted
using four different instruments. The new insertion device
facilitates safer, easier insertion. It reduces the time of
anesthesia and reduces the number of instruments inserted into the
ear canal, which, in turn, reduces the risks for the patient,"
Peirce-Cottler said.
The new stainless steel device consists of hollow rod with a
collar that holds the ear tube in place. This allows the surgeon to
apply force to insert the tube with one motion.
"The more times that you put an instrument in and out of the ear
canal, the greater the risk of damage to surrounding structures,
the wall of the ear canal, or even the tympanic membrane," team
co-leader Dr. Bradley Kesser, an ear-nose-throat surgeon at the
University of Virginia Health System, said in a prepared
statement.
"The skin of the ear canal is some of the thinnest skin in all
of the body, so one little touch on this skin, and it starts to
bleed. If you have bleeding in the ear canal, you can't see
anything. So then, you have to remove the blood and get a clear
surgical field before you can safely put the tube in," Kesser
explained.
More information
The American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
has more about
ear tubes.
