Clinical manifestations and risk factors of otitis media with effusion in children presenting in tertiary care hospital

This study was conducted to find out the pattern of presentation and the risk factors associated with otitis media with effusion, in three major tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. Prospective descriptive study. This study was conducted at three major tertiary care hospital of Karachi including Civil Hospital Karachi, Lyari General Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, over a period of two years from November 1998 to October 2000. Two hundreds and fifty patients diagnosed as otitis media with effusion have been included in this study. Otoscopic examination, tympanic membrane mobility with Siegel's pneumatic speculum, examination of the nose and throat, pure tone audiogram and tympanometry were done in all the cases. There were 140 male and 110 female patients with mean age incidence was 7.3 [ +/- 1.2] years. Hearing impairment was the commonest symptom present in 98% of the cases. Retracted tympanic membrane was noted in 151 cases [60.4%]. Enlarged adenoids were present in 115 cases [46.0%]. Average hearing loss on pure tone audiogram was found to be 23.4 dB. Myringotomy was required in 84 cases [33.6%]. The peak age incidence of otitis media with effusion in this study was impairment with retracted tympanic membrane was the commonest clinical presentation. Enlarged adenoids was the most common and important risk factor