title: Panel 7: Treatment and comparative effectiveness research.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common reasons for antibiotic treatment in children. Controversies regarding antibiotic treatment for OM have accumulated in the past decade, and there seem to be more dilemmas than certainties. The objectives of this article are to provide the state-of-the art review on achievements in treatment of all different stages of OM, including acute otitis media (AOM), otitis media with effusion (OME), and chronic suppurative otitis media, and to outline the future research areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Ovid Medline, the Cochrane Database, and Clinical Evidence (BMJ Publishing).
  
  
  METHODS
  All types of articles related to OM treatment published in English between January 2007 and June 2011 were identified. A total of 286 articles related to OM treatment were reviewed by the panel members; 114 relevant quality articles were identified and summarized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  New evidence emerged on beneficial results of antibiotic treatment, compared with observation of AOM in young children who were diagnosed based on stringent criteria. In OME, the main results were related to a nonsignificant benefit of adenoidectomy versus tympanostomy tube placement alone in the treatment of chronic OME in younger children. Other modalities of OM treatment were studied and described herein.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant progress has been made in advancing the knowledge on the treatment of OM. Areas of potential future research have been identified and outlined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan and Fondazione IRCCS, Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy. paola.marchisio@unimi.it
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marchisio
authors.forename: Tasnee
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chonmaitree
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leibovitz
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lieberthal
authors.forename: Jorgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lous
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mandel
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Aino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruohola
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000233:Adenoidectomy; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research; D006801:Humans; D008876:Middle Ear Ventilation; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000188:drug therapy; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D010035:Otitis Media, Suppurative / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents