Correlation between tympanometric findings and adenoid hypertrophy among children without hearing loss in tertiary care hospital

Adenoid hyperplasia is a common cause of nasal obstruction in children. Chronic infection and hypertrophy result in mouth breathing, snoring, sleep apnoea, hyponasality, sinusitis, and otitis media with effusion (OME). Some children with adenoid hypertrophy have OME in spite of having no complaints of hearing loss. Untreated OME may adversely affect the speech and intellectual development of the child. Aim To determine whether there is a correlation between tympanometric findings and various radiological and endoscopic grades of adenoid hypertrophy. To propose a combination of radiological and/or endoscopic assessment of adenoids and tympanometry as a screening program in patients with suspicion of adenoid hypertrophy. Materials and methods One hundred children, presenting with one or more complaints of upper airway obstruction (UAO), suggestive of adenoid hypertrophy, without a history of hearing loss, to the OPD, were chosen for the study. X-ray nasopharynx soft tissue lateral view was done for all patients. Rigid diagnostic nasal endoscopy with 0° endoscope was conducted in only children who were cooperative and with parental consent. Tympanometry was carried out for all patients and plotted on tympanograms. Results In our study, the mean age of children is 9.43 ± 2.430 years with gender distribution being 57% males and 43% females. The majority of children tend to present with nasal obstruction (100%), mouth breathing (83%), and snoring (56%). On both radiological and endoscopic evaluation of adenoids and correlation with tympanogram, a significantly higher number of patients with Grade 1 adenoids have a type A curve, while a significantly higher number of grade 3 adenoids patients have a type B curve and type C is significantly more prevalent in grade 2 and grade 4 adenoids (p < 0.05). Conclusion In our study, adenoid size as measured from both adenoid X-ray and adenoid endoscopy, showed a significant association with the presence of middle ear effusion and also with eustachian tube dysfunction. This helps in early detection, prior to the development of hearing loss, making it easy to plan early intervention, and curbing the possibility of aggravation of the condition and occurrence of complications.