Suction tube noise and myringotomy.

The possibility of a noice-induced hearing loss occurring as a result of a high level of sucker-tip noise in myringotomy for seromucinous otitis media is discussed. A group of twenty-four ears is investigated and the noise levels generated by the suction tube are measured at operation by means of a probe microphone lowered into the external auditory meatus. The conclusions reached are that, although the sound levels attained are at times quite high, they are not of sufficient amplitude, nor are they present for a sufficient length of time, to produce a sensori-neural hearing loss.