Published: June 25, 2019

Clinical Consensus Statement: Balloon Dilation of the Eustachian Tube

Our Guidelines Task Force, chaired by David E. Tunkel, MD, continues to produce timely, critical, evidence-based publications essential to defining and improving quality in otolaryngology care.


Our Guidelines Task Force, chaired by David E. Tunkel, MD, continues to produce timely, critical, evidence-based publications essential to defining and improving quality in otolaryngology care. Debara L. Tucci, MD, MS, MBA, chaired the panel that produced the most recent Clinical Consensus Statement: Balloon Dilation of the Eustachian Tube (BDET), published online in Otolaryngology−Head and Neck Surgery in June. This document will contribute significantly to an orderly adoption of this new technology and help facilitate research into additional applications much in the way that the prior Clinical Consensus Statement: Balloon Dilation of the Sinuses, published in February 2018, functioned to further integrate those procedures into our treatment armamentarium.

The panel was able to reach consensus on 28 statements after three iterative Delphi method surveys related to patient criteria, perioperative considerations, and outcomes. An additional 28 statements failed to achieve consensus. Areas where knowledge gaps exist identified opportunities for future research. In the meantime, this information should prove helpful for otolaryngologists considering the use of BDET for the management of patients with obstructive eustachian tube dysfunction. Congratulations to Dr. Tucci and the panel for their exemplary work on this important subject.

To read the Clinical Consensus Statement: Balloon Dilation of the Eustachian Tube, go to https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0194599819848423.


More from July 2019 - Vol. 38, No. 6