Abstract

RAMIREZ MARIN, Jorge Yolik et al. Acute otitis media: A clinical and therapeutic approach. Rev. Fac. Med. (Méx.) [online]. 2017, vol.60, n.1, pp.50-58. ISSN 2448-4865.

Acute otitis media (AOM) is a highly prevalent disease worldwide, primarily in pediatric patients due to the inherent risk factors in their age group, anatomical and environmental conditions such as day care attendance, lack of breastfeeding and exposure to cigarette smoke, among others. The definitive diagnosis of AOM is clinical and is based on a sudden onset of the disease, signs and symptoms of otitis media and fluid in middle ear.

The most accurate method to evaluate the integrity of the patient’s tympanic membrane is a simple otoscopy, although its pneumatic variant is the most effective tool to determinate loss of tympanic membrane mobility. Several factors, including the patient's age, clinical stage, previous treatment and time evolution should be considered in order to choose the right treatment for AOM. The "wait-and-see prescription" in addition to systemic analgesics for 48-72 hours reduces unnecessary antibiotic prescription in non-severe cases. Amoxicillin 80-90 mg/kg is the first-line antibiotic in case of no improvement with the first strategy. A combination of amoxicillin and clavulanate is the next step when first antibiotic therapy fails. A cephalosporin like Ceftriaxone is indicated in treatment failure with amoxicillin in addition to other previous antimicrobial. The recommended treatment in patients allergic to penicillin is clarithromycin. The incidence of complications of AOM is low, these include: recurrent otitis media, conductive hearing loss, mastoiditis, facial nerve paralysis, meningitis and brain abscess. Monitoring 3-6 months after an episode without complications is recommended.

Keywords : Acute otitis media; tympanic membrane; clinical profile; treatment.

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