Treatment of acute otitis media in children under 2 years old

January 01, 0001

Treatment of acute otitis media in children under 2 years old

These US investigators randomly assigned 291 children 6 to 23 months of age, with acute otitis media diagnosed with the use of stringent criteria, to receive amoxicillin-clavulanate or placebo for 10 days. They measured symptomatic response and rates of clinical failure.

They found: "Among the children who received amoxicillin-clavulanate, 35% had initial resolution of symptoms by day 2, 61% by day 4, and 80% by day 7; among children who received placebo, 28% had initial resolution of symptoms by day 2, 54% by day 4, and 74% by day 7 (P=0.14 for the overall comparison). For sustained resolution of symptoms, the corresponding values were 20%, 41%, and 67% with amoxicillin-clavulanate, as compared with 14%, 36%, and 53% with placebo (P=0.04 for the overall comparison). Mean symptom scores over the first 7 days were lower for the children treated with amoxicillin-clavulanate than for those who received placebo. The rate of clinical failure — defined as the persistence of signs of acute infection on otoscopic examination — was also lower among the children treated with amoxicillin-clavulanate than among those who received placebo: 4% versus 23% at or before the visit on day 4 or 5 and 16% versus 51% at or before the visit on day 10 to 12. Mastoiditis developed in one child who received placebo. Diarrhea and diaper-area dermatitis were more common among children who received amoxicillin-clavulanate. There were no significant changes in either group in the rates of nasopharyngeal colonization with nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae."

The authors concluded: "Among children 6 to 23 months of age with acute otitis media, treatment with amoxicillin-clavulanate for 10 days tended to reduce the time to resolution of symptoms and reduced the overall symptom burden and the rate of persistent signs of acute infection on otoscopic examination."

The pendulum has swung again on treatment of otitis media in children.


For the full abstract, click here.

N Engl J Med 364:105-115, 13 January 2011 © 2011 to the Massachusetts Medical Society
Treatment of Acute Otitis Media in Children under 2 Years of Age. Alejandro Hoberman, Jack L. Paradise, Howard E. Rockette, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Hoberman: [email protected]

Category: H. Ear. Keywords: otitis media, children, infants, antibiotic therapy, amoxicillin- clavulanate, Streptococcus pneumoniae, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 25 January 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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