[Myringotomy under topical anesthesia with phenol].

Myringotomy is a common outpatient surgical procedure. It can be performed under general inhaled anesthesia, but it is usually carried out under local anesthesia by lidocaine infiltration or instillation of different anesthetic agents. We present our experience with myringotomy and tympanic tube placement using topical anesthesia with 88% phenol as an outpatient procedure. We report 55 patients in which we performed 81 treatments. In this series, only two ears (2.47%) did not tolerate the surgical procedure, tube insertion under general anesthesia being necessary in one case. Topical anesthesia with phenol facilitates the outpatient treatment of adult otitis media with effusion.