Acute mastoiditis in children: contemporary opportunities and challenges

Mastoiditis is the most common intra-temporal complication of acute otitis media. Despite potentially lethal sequelae, optimal management remains poorly defined.

Method

A retrospective case review was conducted of children diagnosed with mastoiditis at a tertiary referral centre, in North East England, between 2010 and 2017.

Results

Fifty-one cases were identified, 49 without cholesteatoma. Median patient age was 42 months (2 months to 18 years) and median hospital stay was 4 days (range, 0–27 days). There was no incidence trend over time. Imaging was conducted in 15 out of 49 cases. Surgery was performed in 29 out of 49 cases, most commonly mastoidectomy with (9 out of 29) or without (9 out of 29) grommets. Complications included sigmoid sinus thrombosis (3 out of 49) and extradural abscess (2 out of 51), amongst others; no fatalities occurred.

Conclusion

A detailed contemporary description of paediatric mastoiditis presentation and management is presented. The findings broadly mirror those published by other UK centres, but suggest a higher rate of identified disease complications and surgical interventions.

Keywords

Mastoiditis Suppuration Mastoidectomy Anti-Bacterial Agents Radiology

Type

Main Articles

Information

The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 134 , Issue 5 , May 2020 , pp. 434 - 439

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022215120000833

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Footnotes

Mr M W Mather takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper

Results presented at 14th Congress of the European Society of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology (ESPO), 2–5 June 2018, Stockholm, Sweden.

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Acute mastoiditis in children: contemporary opportunities and challenges

Volume 134, Issue 5
M Mather ^(a1), S Powell ^(a1), P D Yates ^(a1) and J Powell ^(a1)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022215120000833

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Acute mastoiditis in children: contemporary opportunities and challenges

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