Objective: To compare the effectiveness of short-term ventilation tubes compared to surveillance on conductive hearing loss in children with non-syndromic orofacial clefting involving the muscular palate.
Introduction: Chronic otitis media with effusion is a common finding in children with cleft palate. The accepted convention is insertion of short-term ventilation tubes at the time of palate repair, but some centres are choosing conservative management. Each approach has its advantages but there is currently no consensus on the most appropriate management in children with non-syndromic cleft palate.
Inclusion criteria: Children <18 years with cleft lip and palate, or isolated cleft palate, not associated with a genetic syndrome, who have been diagnosed with chronic otitis media with effusion.
Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase and Scopus databases was conducted. Grey literature searches were conducted through Central Register of Controlled Trials, Clinicaltrials.gov and ProQuest. Two reviewers screened the studies, conducted critical appraisal, assessed the methodological quality, and extracted the data. Where possible, studies were pooled in statistical meta-analysis with heterogeneity being assessed using the standard Chi-squared and I2 tests.
Results: Four studies met the inclusion criteria but were of low quality with a moderate risk of bias. Only data on hearing thresholds could be pooled for analysis which found no statistically significant difference. Other outcomes were presented in narrative form. Certainty of evidence for all outcomes was deemed low to very low using GRADE criteria.
Conclusions: No definitive conclusions can be drawn regarding most effective management at improving conductive hearing loss. Missing data and inconsistent reporting of outcomes limited capacity for pooled analysis.
Keywords: hearing loss; language development; muscle function; nonsyndromic clefting; palatoplasty; pediatrics; quality of life; soft palate; speech development.