Otitis media: a review for the family physician

Otitis media [OM] is a serious healthcare concern worldwide. Acute otitis media is over-diagnosed. Symptoms are neither sensitive nor specific for the diagnosis of otitis media. Four characteristics of the tympanic membrane - position, mobility, color and degree of translucency should be evaluated and described in every examination. The most notable trends in the bacteriology of AOM during the past decade have been a rise in the proportion of patients infected with drug-resistant S. pneumoniae and an overall increase in beta-lactamase-producing H. influenza and M. catarrhalis. Antibiotic resistance to otogenic organisms occurs more frequently nowadays. Surgical management of otitis media is also discussed in this review