Treatment of Clogged Tympanostomy Tubes: An Off-Label Use of Dornase Alfa (Pulmozyme®)

The success in treating blocked tubes may relate to the ability to dissolve the material clogging the tube as well as dealing with the thick fluid in the middle-ear. The reasoning behind this study is that the use of Pulmozyme® may be able to treat both of these problems. Pulmozyme® was approved by the FDA in 1994 for the treatment of cystic fibrosis patients. Infections present in airway (lung) secretions of cystic fibrosis patients and the material that plugs ear tubes are in some ways the same. "Off-label" use of a drug is the practice by physicians to use a FDA-approved drug in treating conditions other than what the original approval was intended for. Pulmozyme® has been used to treat other lung diseases not related to cystic fibrosis. There has been no published report on the use of Pulmozyme® to treat ear infections. This study is a clinical trial that compares two treatments and will last for 3 months.