Acute mastoiditis: one-decade long epidemiological study

Abstract

Objective: To describe clinical characteristics of children admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of acute mastoiditis.
Material and methods: Retrospective study on cases of children admitted to Hospital Cabueñes (Gijón) with a diagnosis of acute mastoiditis from 1997 to 2007 .
Results: Twenty-eight patients (54% males) with a mean age of 35.5 months were included. Seven cases (25%) occurred in 2007. Eight patients had a history of recurrent otitis media. Sixty-one percent of children received antibiotics before diagnosis of mastoiditis. Swelling, erythema and postauricular inflammation (96%), fever (86%), pain (64%) and othorrea (36%) were the most frequent symptoms and signs. The white blood cell count was greater than 15,000/mm3 in 79% of the cases and the CRP mean value was 79.3 mg/L. Cultures were obtained from 21 children (75%). S. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa (3 cases each) were the most common etiological agents. Mean hospital stay was 8 days. Miringotomy was performed in 15 patients (53.6%). Seven patients needed surgery. Complications included one case each of deafness (a patient with S. aureus labyrinthitis), transitory facial palsy, temporal subperiostic abscess and cholesteatoma.
Conclusions: Acute mastoiditis remains a relatively frequent complication of acute otitis media, responsible for considerable morbidity. Epidemiological surveillance is required to confirm a real amount of incidence in our population.