Abstract: Objective To examine the long-term effect of ventilation tube inse rt ion in treating patients with non-tumor adult-on-set otitis media with effusion (OME).Methods During the period from 1999 to 2001, a total of 153 adult patient s received ventilation tube insertion for OME and were followed up for 12-18 mo nths postoperatively. A retrospective analysis of these cases was conducted. Results Out of the 153 patients, 81 had received at least one previous operation o f ventilation tube in-sertion. During 12-18 months following the operation, the ventilation tubes were extruded in 89 patients, among whom 55 had OME recurrenc e. The recurrence of OME following ventilation tube extrusion was significantly correlated to the pathological changes in the nose or nasopharynx of the patien ts.Conclusion The underlying pathological changes may lead to recurrence of ad ult-onset OME following extrusion of the ventilation tube, therefore, better lon g-term outcome may be expected only after i-dentifying the underlying pathologic al changes and giving them appropriate treatment in addition to ventilation tube insertion.