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Do tissue spears used to clear ear canal pus improve hearing? A case series study of hearing in remote Australian Aboriginal children with chronic suppurative otitis media before and after dry mopping with tissue spears

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2015

K Sparrow ,
L Sanchez ,
D Turner ,
P MacFarlane  and
A S Carney
K Sparrow*
Affiliation:
Speech Pathology and Audiology, School of Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
L Sanchez
Affiliation:
Speech Pathology and Audiology, School of Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
D Turner
Affiliation:
Haematology and Genetic Pathology, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
P MacFarlane
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia
A S Carney
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Ms Karen Sparrow, Speech Pathology and Audiology, School of Health Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia Fax: +61 8 8204 5935 E-mail: karen.sparrow@flinders.edu.au
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Abstract

Objective:

To determine whether the use of tissue spears to remove otorrhoea from Aboriginal children's ear canals improves hearing in the affected ear.

Design:

Case series study with controls.

Methods:

The study comprised 61 Aboriginal children from communities in the remote arid zone of South Australia who had otorrhoea obscuring the tympanic membrane in 1 or both ears. Eighty ears were treated with tissue spears, and hearing was assessed before and after treatment.

Results:

Forty-two children had unilateral and 19 had bilateral active disease. An additional 13 ears without otorrhoea served as controls. Improvement by 5 dB HL or greater in a four-frequency pure tone average occurred in 41.3 per cent of treated ears. Subsequently, blinded audiologists made qualitative judgements that a functional improvement in hearing had occurred after tissue spear use in 28.4 per cent of ears.

Conclusion:

Tissue spears can improve hearing thresholds in a significant proportion of children with otorrhoea. However, the duration of the effect is unknown.

Keywords

Tympanic MembraneOtitis MediaIndigenous PopulationHearing
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 130 , Issue S1 , January 2016 , pp. S11 - S15
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2015 

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Footnotes

Presented at the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery annual scientific meeting pre-meeting workshop, 31 March 2012, Adelaide, Australia, the XXXI World Congress of Audiology, 29 April – 3 May 2012, Moscow, Russia, and the XX Audiology Australia National Conference, 1–4 July 2012, Adelaide, Australia.

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