Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 20, 2026

Autoinflation

Autoinflation is a minimally invasive procedure to treat serous non-infectious otitis media, in which a nasal balloon is inserted into the nasopharynx, followed by the application of pressure to the sinus cavities by forcibly contracting the diaphragm against the closed nasal passageways. It can also be performed by manually pinching the nasal passages and closing the back of the pharynx, followed by forceful contraction of the diaphragm.

Last revised
Jul 20, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
346 w
Citations
4
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Autoinflation
SpecialtyOtolaryngology

Autoinflation is a minimally invasive procedure to treat serous non-infectious otitis media, in which a nasal balloon is inserted into the nasopharynx, followed by the application of pressure to the sinus cavities by forcibly contracting the diaphragm against the closed nasal passageways.12 It can also be performed by manually pinching the nasal passages and closing the back of the pharynx, followed by forceful contraction of the diaphragm.

It may provide short-term relief of symptoms in cases of otitis media with effusion (colloquially known as glue ear).3 However, it is not recommended as a long-term treatment of otitis media with effusion due to the variable effectiveness of the treatment in studies, as well as a lack of high-quality evidence to suggest that the long-term benefits of using autoinflation in glue ear outweigh the inconveniences of regularly performing the procedure and the risk of pain.4

References

References

  1. Schilder, AG; Venekamp, RP (July 2016). "Nasal balloon autoinflation can help clear middle ear effusion, improving the quality of life in school-aged children with glue ear". Evidence-Based Nursing. 19 (3): 81. doi:10.1136/eb-2015-102268. PMID 27005567. S2CID 11762687.
  2. Williamson, I; Vennik, J; Harnden, A; Voysey, M; Perera, R; Breen, M; Bradley, B; Kelly, S; Yao, G; Raftery, J; Mant, D; Little, P (September 2015). "An open randomised study of autoinflation in 4- to 11-year-old school children with otitis media with effusion in primary care". Health Technology Assessment. 19 (72): 1–150. doi:10.3310/hta19720. PMC 4781307. PMID 26377389.
  3. Blanshard, J.d.; Maw, A.r.; Bawden, R. (1993). "Conservative treatment of otitis media with effusion by autoinflation of the middle ear". Clinical Otolaryngology & Allied Sciences. 18 (3): 188–192. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2273.1993.tb00827.x. ISSN 1365-2273.
  4. Webster, Katie E.; Mulvaney, Caroline A.; Galbraith, Kevin; Rana, Mridul; Marom, Tal; Daniel, Mat; Venekamp, Roderick P.; Schilder, Anne Gm; MacKeith, Samuel (2023-09-26). "Autoinflation for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 9 (9) CD015253. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD015253.pub2. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC 10521168. PMID 37750500.
External links