Tympanometry

Tympanometry as a test of otologic status has the following attributes, uses, and advantages: (1) can be carried out simply, rapidly, and atraumatically, by appropriately trained nonprofessionals; (2) does not require, as does conventional audiometry, a sound-free environment; (3) is not influenced by the amount of cerumen ordinarily present in the external auditory canal; (4) is entirely objective, requiring no response on the part of the patient; (5) is exceedingly sensitive in detecting middle-ear effusion (or other middle-ear abnormalities that affect sound conduction); (6) is therefore useful in office screening, especially of difficult-to-examine patients, by (a) virtually obviating the need for routine otoscopic examination in patients more than 6 months of age who are asymptomatic and have normal tracings, and on the other hand (b) pointing up the need for further diagnostic attention to patients whose tracings are abnormal;