Clinical Application of Impedance Audiometry in Children with Acute Otitis Media

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Acute otitis media is one of the most prevalent diseases of childhood and can cause serious complications such as hearing loss. The exact diagnosis is extremely important but may be hard to make because of probabilities of over- and underdiagnosis. We performed impedance audiometry(IA) in routine examinations for acute otitis media and applied it for screening and follow-up methods of acute otitis media. METHODS: We performed IA randomly on whomever were suspected of having acute otitis media due to symptoms and otoscopic appearance. These 95 patients were aged from 1 month to 10 years, and visited our out-patient clinic from December 1998 to February 2000. RESULTS: Male to female ratio was 21, Fifty eight patients(61.1%) were under 2 years-old and the most prevalent age group was the 1 year-old group(35.8%). Sixty two cases(65.3%) had abnormal tympanograms, B type, 43 cases(45.3%); C type, 12 cases(12.6%) and As type, 7 cases (7.4%). The follow-up studies of abnormal tympanogram after antibiotics administration showed improved tympanograms(39 cases), chronic otitis media(7 cases) needed to insert ventilation tubes, and congenital cholesteatoma(1 case); and follow-up losses(15 cases). CONCLUSION: Tympanometry played an irnportant role in detecting the middle ear pathology in childhood. So we recommend initial screening tympanometry for acute otitis media and at least two screenings prior to major management decisions.