ACUTE OTITIS MEDIA IN CHILDREN

the middle ear is the most prevalent disease of childhood. The other areas of the temporal bone which can be contiguous with the middle ear, including the mastoid, petrousus apex and perilabyrinthine air cells, may also be involved. Otitis media can be further divided into acute otitis media (AOM) without effusion, otitis media with effusion (OME), chronic suppurative otitis media (COM) with or without cholesteatoma, and atelectasis of the tympanic membrane, middle ear or mastoid. Acute otitis media is usually suppurative or purulent, but serous effusions may also have an acute onset (1).