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VOLUME 15 , ISSUE 1 ( January-April, 2023 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Efficacy of Medical and Surgical Management in Otitis Media with Effusion in Children: A Comparative Study

Charai Henba, Pallika Kumar, Gaurang Singhal

Keywords : Antihistaminics, Antimicrobials, Corticosteroid, Decongestants, Grommet, Myringotomy, Otitis media with effusion, Randomized control study

Citation Information : Henba C, Kumar P, Singhal G. Efficacy of Medical and Surgical Management in Otitis Media with Effusion in Children: A Comparative Study. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Clin 2023; 15 (1):42-44.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10003-1437

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 16-08-2023

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2023; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a common disease seen in 90% of children before going to school. The management of the condition includes both medical management and surgical management. Thus, a randomized control study was conducted in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur, India from 2014 to 2016, in which 126 cases of newly diagnosed case of OME from 4 to 14 years of age were included. Patients were divided into two groups randomly. One group was treated by medical therapy alone and the other group by surgical therapy only. Patients were followed up every 2 weeks for the first 2 months and then every month for the next 3 months and symptoms along with pure-tone audiometry and Impedance audiometry were noted. Symptoms, pure-tone audiogram, and impedance audiometry in the first and third months were compared with the initial readings. Result: In this study, we found pre-intervention mean air-bone (AB) gap was found to be 27 ± 4.6 dB in the medical arm while 28.5 ± 5.9 dB was found in the surgical arm. Following medical and surgical management of patients, the mean AB gap at 1 month period was 18 ± 2.7 dB in the medical arm and 15 ± 4.2 dB in the surgical arm. Similar trends were seen at 3 months postintervention in which the mean AB gap was 16 ± 2.5 dB in the medical arm and 9.04 ± 2.4 dB in the surgical arm. The findings were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Improvement in hearing and reduction in the AB gap is more in the surgical group during the third month. Clinical significance: The study was conducted to compare the outcomes of the surgical and medical management of OME as it poses a great risk to children who are the building blocks of society.


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