[Check ups after acute otitis media should be revised. What are we looking for and why?].
The latest Swedish consensus conference (May 2000) on treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) states that a check-up should be made three months after an episode of AOM. In order to find out how these recommendations are implemented 36 general practitioners were asked about their management of AOM check-ups. Almost all GPs checked children below 5 years of age by otoscopy but only 66 percent checked the mobility of the tympanic membrane. The follow-up procedure varied considerably. In a study of 129 ears (99 children) three months after an episode of AOM the diagnostic accuracy of pneumatic otoscopy, tympanometry and audiometry performed at a health care center was studied. The tympanometry performed by a nursing assistant had a very high sensitivity (93 percent) regarding secretory otitis media and could be used as a check-up after AOM. Thus there seems to be no need for the GP to examine ears where tympanometry is normal, but concentrate on the cases with pathologic tympanometry.
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D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests; D001299:Audiometry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden