All About Ear Tube Placement Surgery

Have a 3‑year-old? Chances are that they have had an ear infec­tion. Ear infec­tions are the main rea­son why par­ents bring their chil­dren to the doc­tor, and 5 out of 6 chil­dren in the US have had at least one by the time they turn three.

While the occa­sion­al ear infec­tion usu­al­ly isn’t much cause for con­cern, ones that keep com­ing back are a lit­tle more wor­ri­some. In addi­tion to being uncom­fort­able and painful, recur­rent ear infec­tions can cause com­pli­ca­tions like hear­ing loss, speech or devel­op­ment delays, or tear­ing of the eardrum.

If your child con­stant­ly has ear infec­tions, their provider may rec­om­mend a pro­ce­dure called a ​“tym­pa­nos­to­my” to place ear tubes in your child’s ears.

It’s nor­mal to feel ner­vous if your child needs surgery, but it can be a lot eas­i­er if you under­stand the pro­ce­dure ahead of time and feel pre­pared. Here are answers to com­mon ques­tions about ear tube place­ment surgery.

What Are Ear Tubes – and Why Might My Child Need Them?

Ear tubes are small, hol­low tubes that are insert­ed into the eardrums to pre­vent flu­id from build­ing up. They are typ­i­cal­ly made of either plas­tic or metal.

There are a few rea­sons why your child’s provider may sug­gest ear tubes, including:

• Recur­ring, long-last­ing ear infections
• Buildup of flu­id in the ear with­out an infec­tion or after an infec­tion has cleared up
• Ongo­ing mid­dle ear infec­tions that don’t get bet­ter with antibiotics
• Ongo­ing inflam­ma­tion in the mid­dle ear that tears the eardrum
• Ear infec­tions that are caus­ing speech delay or hear­ing loss

In most cas­es, your child’s pedi­a­tri­cian will be the first one to rec­om­mend ear tubes. They will then refer your child to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doc­tor, who will exam­ine the ears and make an offi­cial recommendation.

Read on Duly Health and Care: Did You Know? Dif­fer­ent Types of Ear Infections

How Can I Help My Child Pre­pare for Ear Tube Place­ment Surgery?

Before surgery, make sure to talk to your child’s provider about:

• Your child’s aller­gies and cur­rent med­ica­tions, and if they have ever had trou­ble with anes­the­sia before.
• When your child will need to start fast­ing before the surgery. Their stom­ach needs to be emp­ty for anes­the­sia, so your child won’t be able to eat or drink for a while beforehand.
• When to arrive on the day of surgery. Even though it’s a quick pro­ce­dure, you will like­ly need to arrive an hour ahead of time.

Anoth­er part of prep­ping for surgery is talk­ing to your child about the pro­ce­dure. What you dis­cuss depends on sev­er­al fac­tors, like how old they are, if they already know what surgery is, and if they are scared.

While there isn’t an exact sci­ence, there are some gen­er­al rules of thumb for talk­ing to your child about their upcom­ing surgery:

• Don’t spring it on them. Start talk­ing about the pro­ce­dure sev­er­al days beforehand.
• Let them know that they will take med­ica­tion to help them sleep dur­ing the surgery. Avoid the phrase ​“put you down” – they might mis­take that for what hap­pened when it was said about a fam­i­ly pet.
• Explain how ear tubes can help stop ear infec­tions or make hear­ing easier.
• Have them bring a com­fort item, like a favorite toy or blanket.
• Reas­sure them that you will be there the whole time.
• Be hon­est with them that they might have a lit­tle pain or feel sick after surgery, but let them know that they will get med­i­cine to help and will feel bet­ter quickly.

Ask your child if they have oth­er ques­tions. If you don’t have the answer, you can always reach out to their provider.

What Hap­pens Dur­ing Ear Surgery?

Dur­ing ear tube surgery, your child’s ENT sur­geon will cut a small hole in the eardrums to drain flu­id and will then place the tube into the hole. This allows air to flow in and out, pre­vent­ing flu­id from build­ing up in the future.

Your child will be giv­en anes­the­sia, which makes them fall asleep for the surgery. They won’t feel any pain or remem­ber the pro­ce­dure lat­er. The whole process only lasts about 10 to 15 minutes.

Read on Duly Health and Care: Ear Infec­tions: Treat­ment Options

Is Recov­ery Painful?

It’s pos­si­ble for there to be a lit­tle pain after surgery, but it shouldn’t be severe and it usu­al­ly goes away with­in a day or two. Over-the-counter pain med­ica­tions can ease the pain. How­ev­er, your child’s provider might pre­scribe pain med­ica­tion or ear drops.

What Is Recov­ery Like?

Your child will need to spend about an hour in the recov­ery room. They may feel grog­gy or fussy as the anes­the­sia wears off. After that, you can usu­al­ly head home – most ear tube surg­eries are out­pa­tient pro­ce­dures, mean­ing they don’t require an overnight stay in the hospital.

Recov­er­ing from ear tube place­ment surgery is usu­al­ly quick and easy. Most peo­ple feel back to nor­mal with­in a few days. After one day of stay­ing home to rest, your child can jump back into their every­day activities. 

There are a few oth­er things to keep in mind as you help your child recover:

• Give med­ica­tion or ear drops exact­ly as prescribed.
• If your child is vom­it­ing or feel­ing nau­se­at­ed from anes­the­sia, have them try a liq­uid or bland diet (e.g., crack­ers, broth) until their symp­toms stop.
• If a small amount of flu­id drains out from their ears, put a cot­ton ball at the open­ing of each ear to catch it. Do not stick cot­ton swabs inside their ears.

Are Ear Tubes Permanent?

No – ear tubes are tem­po­rary. As the eardrum heals, the tube gets pushed into the ear canal. From there, ear­wax moves it to the out­er ear, caus­ing it to fall out.

Ear tubes typ­i­cal­ly come out on their own with­in 6 to 18 months. How­ev­er, if they haven’t fall­en out after 2 years, you can get them sur­gi­cal­ly removed.

It’s pos­si­ble that your child will need to get the surgery again if prob­lems like recur­ring ear infec­tions come back.

Is Ear Tube Surgery Safe?

Ear tube surgery is very safe, and any prob­lems that do occur, like drainage from the ear, usu­al­ly don’t last long.

As with any surgery, there are some gen­er­al risks involved, such as bleed­ing, infec­tions, or reac­tions to anes­the­sia – how­ev­er, these risks are usu­al­ly small, and the ben­e­fits of surgery tend to out­weigh the risks.

Call your child’s provider imme­di­ate­ly if your child devel­ops severe ear pain that doesn’t go away with med­ica­tion, ear bleed­ing, fever or chills, or increased ear drainage that does not stop with­in a few days.

It’s nat­ur­al to be wor­ried when your child is hav­ing surgery – but your child’s provider is there for you to help make it a lit­tle eas­i­er. Talk to the provider about any con­cerns so that you can rest eas­i­ly while your child is in surgery and be pre­pared to help them.

Ear, nose, and throat spe­cial­ists (ENTs) per­form ear tube surgery. Find a South Bend Clin­ic ENT and sched­ule an appoint­ment to learn more about get­ting ear tubes for your child.