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eustachian tube dysfunction
Etiology:
- barotrauma
- air travel
Pathology:
- eustachian tube fails to equalize pressure between the middle ear & the atmosphere, resulting in negative middle-ear pressure
Clinical manifestations:
- otalgia, muffled hearing, tinnitus, aural fullness
- may occur in the setting of nasal congestion & cough
Special laboratory:
- Weber test lateralizes to the side of eustachian tube dysfunction
- otoscopy:
- tympanic membrane intact, but appears dull & retracted
- tympanic membrane does not move with pneumatic otoscopy [3]
- tympanic membrane appears thickened with amber hue [3]
Complications:
- recurrent middle-ear infections requiring myringotomy & tube placement
- chronic otitis media with tympanic-membrane retraction & cholesteatoma
Management:
- observation
- pseudoephedrine does not appear to shorten recovery period [3]
- eustachian tube balloon dilation system FDA approved to dilate stenotic eustachian tube in adults
Related
eustachian tube; auditory tube; pharyngotympanic tube
General
eustachian tube disorder
References
- McCoul ED et al.
Validating the clinical assessment of eustachian tube
dysfunction: The Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire
(ETDQ-7).
Laryngoscope 2012 Mar 1; 122:1137
PMID: 22374681
- Seibert JW and Danner CJ.
Eustachian tube function and the middle ear.
Otolaryngol Clin North Am 2006 Nov 14; 39:1221
PMID: 17097443
- NEJM Knowledge+ Otolaryngology