How to Prepare for Surgery and Post-Operative Care When Your Child Gets Ear Tubes

My husband and I have spent many nights sleeping on the couch, but not for the reason you may think. We happen to have two beautiful babies who suffer from a very common problem - frequent ear infections. My daughter, now 2, had tubes put in her ears when she was just 8 months old. My son just returned from the surgery center where he had tubes put in his ears at the ripe old age of 6 months. While making the decision to have tubes put in your child's ears can be difficult, it may help knowing what to expect from the surgery experience.

Before your doctor will even think about putting tubes in your child's ears, expect to go through several ear infections and courses of antibiotics. My daughter had 5 ear infections over the course of about 3 months, and the usual low-grade antibiotics just were not effective. Likewise, my son had numerous ear infections in just 3 months. Unfortunately, he could not tolerate the low-grade antibiotics that are the typical first line of defense against ear infections in infants. More powerful antibiotics worked, but the infections would quickly return.

Given the frequency of the ear infections our children suffered, we were given three options. Do nothing, keep giving the children antibiotics, or have tubes put in their ears. The ear tubes do not prevent ear infections, but they do ventilate the middle ear and allow the fluid that accumulates behind the ear drum to drain. In addition, instead of treating children with oral antibiotics for ear infections, the ear infections can be treated with ear drops administered twice a day for 4 to 7 days.

If you decide that having tubes put in your child's ear will be the best choice for your child, your doctor's office will schedule the surgery. The surgery can be done in the hospital, in an outpatient surgery center, or sometimes right at the doctor's office. Both of our children had tubes put in at a surgery center.

The doctor's office staff and the surgery center will tell you what to expect before, during and after the surgery, and they will give you specific instructions about what you should do on the day of surgery. For instance, your child may not be able to eat after midnight on the day of the surgery. You may also be instructed to bring a pacifier or a blanket or other comfort object for your child that will be taken to the recovery room. If your child is an infant, you will also be asked to bring a bottle to feed your baby in the recovery room.

When you arrive at the surgery center on the day of your child's surgery, you will get checked in and sign a consent form allowing the doctor to perform the surgery. Next, your child will be weighed and examined by a nurse to be sure that your child is well enough to have the surgery. If your child has a fever, the procedure will not be done that day.

After being evaluated, you will be asked to change your child into the gown provided by the surgery center or hospital. You will likely meet with your child's doctor and your child's anesthesiologist, who will ask you about your child's medical history and do a quick examination to make sure that administering the anesthesia will not be a problem. The doctor's will both answer any questions that you have about the surgery and the ear tubes before your child is taken to the operating room.

When your child is finally taken to the operating room for the surgery, you will be asked to wait in the waiting room. After the surgery is complete, the doctor will likely come and talk to you about how the surgery went and what she found. The doctor or a nurse will also talk to about after care for your child. If medicine is prescribed, the doctor or a nurse will explain the dosage and how to administer the medicine.

Finally, you will be escorted to the recovery room to your child, who will be groggy and disoriented. Your child may be crying and will need comfort from you. If your child is still an infant, you will be permitted to feed your baby a bottle at that time. Expect to see some red marks on your child where a blood pressure cuff was attached on the arm, a temperature strip was on your child's forehead, and around your child's neck where he may have been held to maintain an airway.

After a short period in recovery, you will be allowed to dress your child and go home. You will be given post-surgery instructions like activity restrictions or feeding restrictions and any prescriptions you may need to have filled. If you have not already done so, your doctor will ask you to schedule a follow up appointment in a few weeks.

After having ear tubes put in, both of my children felt much better almost immediately. Their moods improved, and their appetites improved. They became much more active and attentive, and according to the doctor, their hearing improved as well. While nerve-wracking, having the ear tubes put in was a good decision for our children.