How to prepare for your Child’s Ear Tube Surgery
When preparing yourself for your child surgery you have to remember that you will go through several different processes. These include pre-op, the surgery, and post-op.
During the pre-op process your child doctor may require some routine blood work and this should be done several days prior to the actually surgery date. You will also need to preregister your child; this includes providing insurance information and filling out a health history. During this time you will also receive education and teaching on the ins and outs of the surgery. You will also receive the time to arrive at the hospital on the day of the surgery. On the day of the surgery the pre-op process continues with the nurse reviewing the health history. The nurse will also obtain vital signs. The anesthesiologist will also pay you a visit and order medication to help sedate your child. This medication is usually Versed. After you child takes this medication it is important to keep your child in the bed because they will be very loopy. Your child may have to have an IV. Most hospitals do not start the IV on children until they are in the holding area and are sedated.
The next process is the surgery itself, which only takes about fifteen minutes but can feel like a life time. During the myringotomy a tiny incision is made in the eardrum to allow all of the fluid to drain. During this time they will clean out your child ear and try to get all of the fluid out. Then they take the tympanostomy tube and insert it into the incision of the eardrum. The tympanostoomy tube is a very small tube and is used to keep the incision open to allow for continued drainage.
After the surgery is complete someone from the surgery team will bring your child to you. This starts the post-op phase. Your child may wake up from surgery and be in a pleasant mood or they could be ill as a hornet. It is important to prepare yourself for the bad. You will need to remember that the anesthesia can cause this and it is not necessary their ears that are hurting. They are just plain mad that this has happened to them. You will notice that they will have cotton ball in their ears and may notice a small amount of blood or other drainage coming from them. This is all ok. During this time you will also need to try to get your child to drink a little. But you need to take this slow as some may have nausea from the anesthesia. Some hospitals require that your child be able to go to the bathroom before they will discontinue the IV or allow you to take your child home.
Before taking your child home you will be given discharge instructions, your follow up appointment and a prescription for ear drops that you will need to insert into your child’s ear several times a day for the next ten days.
