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Abstract [en]
Background
Otalgia is an important symptom leading children to seek health care in general practice and it can be a symptom of acute otitis media (AOM). The course of AOM can be of importance when grading severity of AOM.
The aim of this study was to assess tympanic membrane TM appearance in children aged 2–16 years with otalgia in general practice and to follow their signs and symptoms over time.
Method
The children were examined at four rural health care centers in Lapland, Sweden. Symptoms such as otalgia, fever and the general condition were recorded together with endoscopic TM images and tympanometry results and stored in a central database. The same procedures were applied at follow-up visits after 3 days, 7 days and 3 months. The symptoms were given scores 0–2, the tympanograms were labeled as type A, type C and type B (scores 0–4–8) whereas TM images were graded according to the OMGRADE scale for TM´s (score 0–8). An assessment group set a diagnosis asynchronously after a consensus discussion. Diagnoses: normal, otitis media with effusion, AOM, bullous myringitis without AOM (BM), bullous myringitis with AOM (bAOM) and AOM with perforation or a wet and chagrinated appearance of the TM (pAOM). The diagnoses were scrutinized for any difference in presentation of symptoms. The course of signs and symptoms was followed up at return visits.
Results
The children showed a normal TM and tympanogram in 19%, otitis media with effusion in 32% and AOM in 49% at first visit. The majority of children reported no symptoms after 3 days. The children with bilateral AOM reported slightly more symptoms and the BM/bAOM groups reported fewer symptoms than children with AOM. A pAOM with a chagrinated TM was found in 19% and showed a prolonged return to normal tympanograms. Forty percent of the children who presented with a chagrinated TM (pAOM) at first visit still had type-B tympanograms after 3 months.
Conclusions Half of the children with otalgia were diagnosed with AOM. Symptoms resolved faster than signs. The chagrinated TM appeared to be associated with prolonged middle ear effusion.
Keywords
Acute otitis media, Scoring system, Tympanic membrane, Otalgia
National Category
Otorhinolaryngology
Research subject
Family Medicine; Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-86948 (URN)
Note
Manuskript i sammanläggningsavhandling, ännu ej sänt till tidsskrift
2014-03-132014-03-132018-06-08Bibliographically approved