Objective: Balloon dilation of Eustachian tube (BDET) has been widely used as a minimally invasive treatment for obstructive Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). We used a Delphi consensus methodology to explore recommendations for clinical management of BDET in obstructive ETD.
Procedure: A Delphi panel of 26 expert physicians of otology participated in two rounds of anonymous, iterative questionnaires. Consensus is defined as ≥ 70% of panelists agree with recommendation and disagreement as < 70% agree. The responses from the Delphi study were analyzed using both the content validity ratio and Kendall's coefficient of concordance.
Results: The panel finally evaluated 26 topics, agreed 9 and did not reach consensus on 17 topics after 2 rounds. Although no consensus was reached on the postoperative follow-up period, a period of 12 months was most adopted. The Valsalva maneuver and questionnaire responses showed the highest agreement as postoperative assessment tools after BDET.
Conclusion: Consensus was reached on some of the recommendations for the management of BEDT in obstructive ETD. The resultant agreement will provide directions for future research to describe standard postoperative management of BDET.
Keywords: Delphi; Eustachian tube; balloon; dilation; obstructive.