Use of tympanometry in Primary Care

Due to the high prevalence of otitis media in children and to the difficulties of otoscopy to establish the diagnosis at this age, tympanometry brings valuable quantitative information about the presence of fluid in the middle ear. It is a usual scan on all services of ENT and we think that it could be very useful in primary care. In this paper we aim to provide the theoretical knowledge necessary to understand and interpret the curves you get with a portable instrument, discussing the features and benefits of this test.

We are a team of pediatricians and ENT of the same Area of health who pretend to improve the follow up of otitis media with effusion (OME) in primary care; we are introducing and adapting a set of procedures, which include tympanometry. The selected device has been MicroTymp®3 Welch-Allyn and the scan is performed by a nurse experienced in this test. The pediatrician interpretate the tympanometric findings, that along with the clinical history and pneumatic otoscopy, will facilitate the diagnosis.

We describe the fundamentals of tympanometry and how to perform and interpret the tympanograms. We discuss the advantages and limitations of this exploration in the context of OME in primary care.

The Welch Allyn MicroTymp^®3 is a practical and effective tool in the diagnosis of OME in children older than 6 months in primary care.