Epidemiological data on cleft palate with otitis media show that the rate of middle ear dysfunction in patients with cleft palate is as high as 40% to 100%, much higher than in the normal population of the same age group.
Examination of patients who underwent cleft lip and palate repair revealed that 60% of patients had abnormal tympanograms and 50% had mild to moderate hearing impairment. The results of cleft palate repair alone were significantly worse than those of concurrent tympanotomy placement with cleft palate repair.
Even at the primary and secondary school level, a significant number of patients still have middle ear dysfunction, with approximately 70% of patients aged 6-7 years having middle ear abnormalities and 50% having mild to moderate deafness; approximately 50% of patients aged 12-15 years have middle ear abnormalities and 40% have mild to moderate deafness. Therefore, patients with cleft palate with otitis media should not wait passively, but should actively take effective treatment measures to improve the function of the middle ear.
Cleft palate with otitis media has clinical features such as high prevalence, insidiousness, potential harm and limited self-healing, and should be examined early and treated actively. Examination and treatment of middle ear function in patients with cleft palate is beneficial for early detection and improvement of abnormal middle ear function in patients with few postoperative complications, and should be adhered to and promoted in the serial treatment of cleft lip and palate.
The main causes of middle ear function abnormalities in children with cleft palate and cleft lip and palate are disruption of the continuity of the palatal sail tensor and palatal sail raphe; the long-term openness of the oral cavity and nasopharynx in children with cleft palate, which can easily involve the eustachian tube due to upper respiratory tract infections; and the abnormal lumen of the eustachian tube and poor compliance of the eustachian tube due to hypoplastic eustachian tube cartilage. The above causes are also the basis of conduction deafness.