Prognosis of otitis media with effusion in pediatric patients with cleft palate during language-acquisition period treated by simultaneous tympanostomy tube placement with palatoplasty

Cleft palate (CP) in children is frequently complicated by otitis media with effusion (OME) due to Eustachian tube dysfunction. Although tympanostomy tube (TT) placement can be beneficial in the treatment of OME to prevent short-term hearing loss, there is no consensus regarding the indications for and timing of TT insertion. The present study was performed to define the safety and effectiveness of simultaneous TT placement with palatoplasty during the language-acquisition period. We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of pediatric patients who underwent palatoplasty for CP in a tertiary medical center, Kyoto University Hospital, from June 2010 to October 2018. The TT retention time was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The incidence of OME recurrence was compared among four Veau classification groups based on the patients' sex, type of CP, median TT retention time, and type of fluid. Seventy-six subjects (150 ears) were enrolled in the study. The median follow-up duration was 48.7 months (range, 18.2–108.0 months) after the first TT placement. A first TT retention time of