CONTEXT: Children with tympanostomy tubes often develop ear discharge. OBJECTIVE: Synthesize evidence about the need for water precautions (ear plugs or swimming avoidance) and effectiveness of topical versus oral antibiotic treatment of otorrhea in children with tympanostomy tubes. DATA SOURCES: Searches in Medline, the Cochrane Central Trials Registry and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Excerpta Medica Database, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. STUDY SELECTION: Abstracts and full-text articles independently screened by 2 investigators. DATA EXTRACTION: 25 articles were included. RESULTS: One randomized controlled trial (RCT) in children assigned to use ear plugs versus no precautions reported an odds ratio (OR) of 0.68 (95% confidence interval, 0.37a??1.25) for 1 episode of otorrhea. Another RCT reported an OR of 0.71 (95% confidence interval, 0.29a??1.76) for nonswimmers versus swimmers. Network meta-analyses suggest that, relative to oral antibiotics, topical antibiotica??glucocorticoid drops were more effective: OR 5.3 (95% credible interval, 1.2a??27). The OR for antibiotic-only drops was 3.3 (95% credible interval, 0.74a??16). Overall, the topical antibiotica??glucocorticoid and antibiotic-only preparations have the highest probabilities, 0.77 and 0.22 respectively, of being the most effective therapies. LIMITATIONS: Sparse randomized evidence (2 RCTs) and high risk of bias for nonrandomized comparative studies evaluating water precautions. Otorrhea treatments include nona??US Food and Drug Administration approved, off-label, and potentially ototoxic antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: No compelling evidence of a need for water precautions exists. Cure rates are higher for topical drops than oral antibiotics.
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