METHOD FOR ENHANCING EUSTACHIAN TUBE PATENCY AND TREATMENT OF OTITIS MEDIA

摘要

A method of increasing eustachian tube patency in human patients is disclosed wherein a eustachian tube targeting nasal administration device is utilized to deliver a surfactant/propellant mixture to the nasopharyngeal stoma of the auditory tube. The targeting capability of the administration device obviates the need for a spreading agent that would otherwise be required to enable at least a portion of surfactant to reach the eustachian tube orifice. More specifically, the non-targeting, indiscriminate delivery provided by nasal administration devices of the past required surfactant to spread over non-targeted tissue it was inadvertently applied to in order to reach the eustachian tube stoma. In addition, a method for treatment of otitis media is disclosed utilizing, in some preferred embodiments, a therapeutically active agent.