Nasal autoinflation devices for middle ear disease in cleft palate children: are they effective?

Cleft lip palate (CLP) and cleft palate (CP) patients have a higher incidence of otitis media with effusion (OME) and conductive hearing problems. This article aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-month course of self-administered autoinflation therapy in paediatric CP/CLP patients in terms of conductive hearing loss (CHL) and OME prevalence. Fifty-one patients with surgically corrected CP/CLP and diagnosis of OME received indication to 6-months autoinflation therapy with an Otovent device. Clinical evaluation, tympanogram and pure tone audiometry were carried out at the time of prescription (T0), at the end of treatment (T1) and at 6-month follow-up (T2). Patients were divided in 2 groups based on therapeutic compliance (29 compliant children, group A, 22 non-compliant children, group B). Case series showed better audiological results and tympanometries at both time points (p < 0.001). Group A showed better outcomes at tympanograms and at each frequency, but were statistically significant only in terms of CHL at 250 and 1000 Hz frequencies at T1 (respectively 0.024 and 0.012). Nasal autoinflation therapy accelerates improvement of OME and hearing thresholds at short-/mid-term, leading to an earlier improved hearing performance.