Tinnitus Treatment Blog

Click here for a step by step solution to solving your Tinnitus!

The Eustachian tube is a narrow tube that acts like a bridge or link between the middle ear and the back of the nose. This tube remains closed most of the time except during yawning and swallowing. However, sometimes it remains opened abnormally and this condition is referred to as a patulous Eustachian tube. This condition may lead to pulsatile tinnitus. The patulous Eustachian tube occurs because of a defect in the normally convex anterior-lateral wall. This can be due to a loss of volume with the Ostmann’s fat pad, mucosa, sub mucosa, cartilage, or tensor veli palatini muscle.

The medical treatment for a patulous Eustachian tube consists of drugs as well as surgery. However, the surgical treatment is done only if the patients suffer from continual significant otologic symptoms in spite of the medical therapy. Moreover, surgical therapy for a patulous Eustachian tube is contraindicated in pregnant women and patients who have mild symptoms. Only informative reassurance is required by such patients.

The surgical treatment for a narrow lumen caused by an extrinsic compression is as follows:

• Eustachian tube diathermy
• Occlusion of the Eustachian tube
• Myringotomy and insertion of a ventilating tube
• Surgical scar tissue removal in nasopharynx

There may be certain complications in the surgical treatment.  The Eustachian tube diathermy has been linked with complications such as trigeminal nerve damage, intermittent secretory otitis media and middle cranial fossa dural burns. Teflon injections can result in total blockage of the Eustachian tube. The patients who had undergone tensor veli palatini transection developed middle ear effusions.

Eustachian tuboplasty is an advanced and promising type of treatment that is still in the early stages of implementation. Eustachian tuboplasty is also being used to treat a patulous Eustachian tube.

For a patulous Eustachian tube the surgeons augment the Eustachian tubal walls, tapering the passageway, with the help of auto graft cartilage. The surgical process mostly needs general anesthesia and is an outpatient process.

Till date, none of the patients have had any significant complications after undergoing Eustachian tuboplasty for a patulous Eustachian tube. Research data related to the treatment of patulous Eustachian tubes is in the being collected.

Show Your Love & Share with Others!

Incoming search topics:

• patulous eustachian tube treatment
• ostmann fat pad
• eustachian tube surgery
• patulous eustachian tube surgery
• eustation tinnitus
• pulsatile tinnitus eustachian tube
• eustachian tube tinnitus
• patulous eustachian tube treatment 2010
• curing a patulous eustacion tube
• Ostmann fat pad treatment causes symptoms