Come with us on the journey of 8 year old Beckett, the first little one in South Dakota to have the TULA ear tube system for his ear tube placement. The TULA® System offers the benefits of traditional ear tube surgery for children six months and older without the need for hospital surgery or anesthesia. Another advantage is its cost-effectiveness, as it requires only a single clinic visit. This procedure is exclusively available in South Dakota at Midwest ENT & Allergy.
Read the full article below and see if the TULA System may be right for your child:
Approximately 700,000 ear tube surgeries are performed annually in the United States, making it the most common pediatric surgery requiring general anesthesia. Unfortunately, this can be a traumatic experience for both children and their parents.
Now, an innovative procedure available exclusively in Sioux Falls through Midwest ENT & Allergy offers a transformative alternative. Six months ago, Dr. Greg Danielson introduced the TULA® System to his patient, Beckett, age 8. Beckett had recently been admitted to the Emergency Room due to intense pain caused by recurrent fluid in his middle ear, despite having undergone ear tube surgery at a younger age. For his mother, Lacey, the thought of putting her son through surgery and anesthesia again was difficult.
Lacey shares, “Beckett’s tubes fell out, and he continued to have fluid behind his eardrums. Dr. Danielson explained that this procedure has been used successfully in Texas for some time, which was super reassuring. He was thorough in explaining it and left the decision up to us. For our child, it was the best choice because of his reaction to anesthesia.”
“The lack of anesthesia alone was a game changer. You don’t have to get up early to go to the hospital, and parents can be there for the entire procedure. It’s so much easier and more cost-effective.” – Lacey, Bridgewater, SD
The TULA® System offers the benefits of traditional ear tube surgery for children six months and older without the need for hospital surgery or anesthesia. Another advantage is its cost-effectiveness, as it requires only a single clinic visit. In this straightforward procedure, the child’s eardrum is numbed while they play or watch videos with their parents in the room. The physician then inserts a tube in less than half a second. The entire procedure typically takes around 35 minutes and requires no recovery time for the child.
After deciding to proceed with the TULA® System, which required just an office visit and zero downtime for her son, Lacey and Beckett couldn’t be happier with their choice. Beckett smiles, “I got tubes, and I was the first person in the state to get this kind, so my friends thought that was pretty cool.”
Lacey adds, “The billing and accounting departments were also super easy to work with, especially since this was the first time the procedure had been performed in South Dakota, and our insurance had never seen that code before. They were proactive about contacting our insurance agency, making it easy on our end.”
Dr. Danielson notes, “The TULA® System is a great option for many children who can sit through the procedure. It’s much less disruptive for both the child and the parents, and we’re seeing excellent results.”
If you’re interested in learning whether the TULA® System might be suitable for your child, call Midwest ENT & Allergy at 605-336-3503 to schedule a consultation.