Korean J Audiol.  2011 Apr;15(1):44-47.

Acute Mastoiditis Cases Mandating Simple Mastoidectomy

• Chung H
• Song JJ
• Choi BY

Abstract

Acute mastoiditis continues to be a potentially dangerous infection in the antibiotic era. Despite use of antibiotics to treat suppurative acute otitis media in children, the incidence of subsequent development of acute mastoiditis and its complications, including periauricular subperiosteal abscess, facial paralysis, meningitis, and brain abscess has not plunged down below a certain level. Mastoidectomy has been the routine procedure for treating acute mastoiditis with subperiosteal abscess but recently many authors suggest that subperiosteal abscess complicating acute coalescent mastoiditis can be successfully treated by broad-spectrum antibiotics, myringotomy, and minor surgical procedures such as incision and drainage, not necessarily requiring simple mastoidectomy. Contrary to the recent trend shift from a surgical disease to a medical disease, we report two consecutive acute mastoiditis cases definitely mandating simple mastoidectomy to emphasize the role of surgical intervention even in the recent trend shift from a surgical to a medical disease.

Keyword

Acute mastoiditis; Acute coalescent mastoiditis; Acute otitis media; Simple mastoidectomy

MeSH Terms

Abscess
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Brain Abscess
Child
Drainage
Facial Paralysis
Humans
Incidence
Mastoid
Mastoiditis
Meningitis
Otitis Media
Surgical Procedures, Minor
Anti-Bacterial Agents