Int. Adv. Otol. 2009; 5:(2)

Microbiology of middle ear effusions in 60 children undergoing tympanostomy tube placement
Isabel de Miguel Martínez, Ángel Ramos Macías, Silvia Borkosky Barreiros, Juan L. Muñoz-Bellido

Servicio de Microbiología. Complejo Hospitalario Universitario Insular - MaternoInfantil de Gran Canaria. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Universidad de Las Palmas. SPAIN imigmar@gobiernodecanarias.org

Aim of the study: To analyze the bacterial involvement in otitis media with effusion (OME).

Method: We obtained middle ear effusion samples, under surgical control, from 60 children with OME. Samples underwent microbiological study by using microbiologic culture of the middle ear effusion (MEE)

 Results:  Bacteriological cultures were positive in 75% of OME. Alloiococcus otitidis was the bacteria most frequently isolated (36%) as well as Haemophilus influenzae non-serotype B (23,3%%)

 Conclusions: Though OME is usually considered a non-infectious disease, bacteria are found from a number of OME samples, and his role as etiological agent should be considered.