Transnasal endoscopic balloon dilation eustachian tuboplasty for treatment of dilatory eustachian tube dysfunction

Abstract

Objective To investigate the efficacy of transnasal endoscopic balloon dilation eustachian tuboplasty (BET) for treatment of dilatory eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). Methods Twenty- one patients with dilatory ETD (33 ears) treated in our deparment between June 2014 and June 2015 were included in this study. All the patients underwent transnasal endoscopic BET. Before and after the surgery, the patients underwent examinations with pure tone audiometry, tympanogram, tubomanometry (TMM) and 7- item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ- 7). Results All the patients successfully completed transnasal endoscopic BET. One male patient (1 ear) was lost to follow- up at 6 months after surgery. At 6 months after surgery, the pure tone audiometry showed that the air-bone gaps were 10 to 15 dB in 3 ears and less than 10 dB in the remaining ears; while the tympanogram showed change from type B into type C in 1 ear, from type C into type As in another, and recovery to type A in the remaining ears. At baseline and at 7 d, 1 and 6 months post-operation, the ETDQ-7 scores were 5.05±0.25, 4.36±0.20, 2.74± 0.13, and 1.93±0.10, respectively. Compared with the baseline, the ETDQ-7 scores significantly decreased at 1 and 6 months post-operation (both P<0.01). TMM showed higher chance by which the eustachian tube opened normally in response to different pressures at 1 and 6 months post- operation as compared with the baseline (all P<0.01). Conclusion Transnasal endoscopic BET may lead to a favorable short - term therapeutic efficacy for dilatory ETD. Key words: Eustachian tube; Balloon dilation eustachian tube; Eustachian tube dysfunction