Pushing water through a PE tube won't quite tell you the answer. Remember, the space behind a PE tube in place (maybe 1 ml?) is much smaller than the space in your experimental setup. In addition, viscousity of fluid behind the ear drum is much different than the viscousity of water. While interesting, I do not think it will give you the answer you are looking for. Jeff Utz > -----Original Message----- > From: [mailto:]On Behalf Of > Graham Barden > Sent: Thursday, September 30, 1999 9:41 PM > To: > Subject: Re: Diagnosing and Treating AOM in Children with PE Tubes > > > I don't think that is true, I guess the next time I pull a PE > tube out of an ear canal, I'll see how much of a water column > it takes to push water through. I think the water will easily > flow. The lumen is much larger than an 18g needle and water > will easily fall out of an open syringe with 1.5 inches of > depth. > -g barden > > Tom Hargrove wrote: > > > > Using some law from Physics that I forgot a long time ago, it > takes about 6 > > feet of water depth to force water through the lumen of a > standard PE tube. > > The ENT literature is pretty clear that ear plugs aren't > necessary for most > > kids with tubes. Based on my clinical experience, I'm not sure > that water > > in the ears plays much of a role in purulent drainage from > tubes; most of > > these patients have cold or allergic rhinitis symptoms also--a > more likely > > culprit. > > > > Tom Hargrove, MD, FAAP > > > > discussion group. >