The relationship between acute mastoiditis and antibiotic use for acute otitis media in children.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between prior antibiotic use and the development of acute mastoiditis (AM) in children.


METHODS
Retrospective review.


METHODS
Tertiary pediatric center.


METHODS
We identified 129 patients with AM who were admitted to our center between 1996 and 2005.


METHODS
Proportion of children who developed AM.


RESULTS
A total of only 67 patients (51.9%) had undergone any antimicrobial treatment prior to hospital admission. In 1996, 64% of patients with AM had received antibiotics for acute otitis media (AOM) prior to admission (n = 7 of 11), but this percentage had steadily decreased to 27% by 2005 (n = 4 of 15). The yearly number of cases of AM treated in our institution has remained stable over this period. A subperiosteal abscess was identified in 45 patients (34.9%), while the remainder (n = 84) had postauricular inflammation only (65.1%). Nineteen patients with a subperiosteal abscess (42%) and 48 patients without a subperiosteal abscess (57%) had undergone prehospitalization antimicrobial therapy for suppurative AOM. There was no significant difference in antibiotic use between the numbers of patients with or without a subperiosteal abscess. Regarding the sensitivity of bacteria isolated from patients with a subperiosteal abscess, only 1 patient was infected with an organism that was not sensitive to the prehospitalization antibiotic prescribed.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of antibiotics to treat suppurative AOM in children might not influence the subsequent development of AM.
Ho
David
D
Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria 3052, Australia.
Rotenberg
Brian W
BW
Berkowitz
Robert G
RG
D000208:Acute Disease; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008417:Mastoiditis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents