About Eric P. Wilkinson, MD Expertise I am a board-certified otolaryngologist with additional subspecialty training in otology, neurotology, and skull base surgery. This is the subspecialty of otolaryngology that involves the ear, hearing, balance organs, the facial nerve, and surgery of the skull base including surgery for acoustic neuroma and other benign and malignant tumors of the base of the skull.
Experience Medical school, residency in otolaryngology, fellowship in otology/neurotology/skull base surgery
Organizations American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery North American Skull Base Society American Neurotology Society
Publications Laryngoscope Otology and Neurotology
Education/Credentials MD Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA 2001 Otolaryngology Residency, University of Iowa Department of Otolaryngology, Iowa City, IA Otology/Neurotology Fellowship, House Ear Clinic, Los Angeles, CA
Expert: Eric P. Wilkinson, MD Date: 11/27/2007 Subject: Grommets
Question Hi, I have a question regarding grommets in one ear. My son usually has a couple of ear infections each winter. This winter He started kindy and picked up more colds than usual as a result. He had 2 ear infections in the right ear and a bad cold which he also had antibiotics for. During one of the ear infections he had a tympanogram performed by a health nurse at kindy, which showed a type B tympanogram. I saw an audiologist a couple of weeks later who also had a type B typanogram. I saw an ENT specialist 5 weeks ago, who saw fluid in his right ear and recommended grommets and put my son on the waiting list. I wasn't happy with this as my son had only had the fluid in his right ear for 2 or 3 months. He is 3 and doesn't have great speech, but my husband and his sisters had bad speech at 3 and saw speech therapists, so it may be a genetic link. The health nurse came back to kindy last week and my son had a perfectly normal tympanogram. My doctor said the glue ear has cleared, because of the clear tympanogram. I am now on the waiting list still and really want to get off. Is it usual to have grommets in only one ear.? I'm not sure why the ENT speciallist recommend surgery so quick as it has cleared up on its own. My doctor said I could take him off the waiting list or wait and see if he has any more trouble with his ear, but I think my doctor was also suprised he was recommended grommets for only one ear. Are grommets usually recommneded for one ear? Thanks
Answer The standard criteria for tube placement is either 3 episodes of OM in 6 months, or 4 in a year; or, a persistent conductive hearing loss due to effusion/glue ear. Your son doesn't really meet either of these criteria, so it may have been premature to schedule surgery. Getting another opinion may be helpful.
