Comorbidities of exudative otitis media in children: focus on cough

Abstract

Introduction. Otitis media with effusion (OME) is the most common and asymptomatic form of otitis in preschool children, accompanied by the accumulation of exudate in the middle ear with the development of conductive and mixed hearing loss. The article discusses data on the nature of comorbid diseases in exudative otitis media and modern ideas about the effectiveness of a combination drug for concomitant bronchopulmonary pathology in children.Aim. To study the nature of comorbid diseases in OME and evaluate the effectiveness of a combined expectorant drug in the treatment of upper and lower respiratory tract infections.Materials and methods. 104 children diagnosed with acute and chronic otitis media with effusion were examined. All children were divided into 2 groups: Group I (50 people) with acute otitis media with effusion, Group II (54 people) with chronic otitis media with effusion. The average age of children in group I was 5.02 ± 0.48 years with the highest prevalence in the younger group (70%), the average age of children in group II was 5.87 ± 0.47 years with the highest prevalence in the preschool and primary school groups (88%). Group I children with tracheitis and bronchitis received a combined expectorant.Results and discussions. The recurrent course of otitis media with effusion is supported by allergies in 43%, and by pathology of the upper and lower respiratory tract in 34%. The development of hearing loss leads to dysarthria in 26% of cases, which can undoubtedly negatively affect the further social adaptation of the child. Complex therapy of cough with a combined expectorant gave a positive clinical effect in 95% of cases, reduced the need for systemic antibiotics by 2.5 times, shortened the duration of the disease by 1.7 times.Conclusions. Early diagnosis of comorbid diseases in AOME at a young age, timely complex treatment of bronchopulmonary pathology will prevent the development of COME with impaired speech development in older children.