Spontaneous resolution of ‘glue ear’ in children- An experience at a tertiary care teaching hospital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.: Spontaneous Resolution of Glue Ear in Children

Khurshid Anwar; Adnan Yar Mohammad; Saeed Khan

doi:10.54393/pjhs.v4i03.605

Authors

Khurshid Anwar Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar, Pakistan
Adnan Yar Mohammad Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar, Pakistan
Saeed Khan Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Khyber Girls Medical College Peshawar, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54393/pjhs.v4i03.605

Keywords:

Otitis Media with Effusion, Tympanometry, Acute Disease, Child, Pure Tone Audiometry.

Abstract

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a common cause of treatable hearing impairment in children. As OME is a recurrent problem, a ‘wait and see’ policy is therefore worthwhile before embarking on treating it surgically. Objective: To determine the frequency of cases having spontaneous resolution of otitis media with effusion in the first 3 months after acquiring the disease. Methods: This study was conducted in ENT Department of Hayatabad Medical complex, Peshawar during the period from July 1, 2021 to Sep 3, 2022. Children aging 3-13 years diagnosed with recent onset OME were followed upto 3 months. Children were categorized into two categories; “Resolved” and “Persistent OME” on the basis of pure tone audiometry and tympanometry at the end of 3 months. Using this data, the frequency of spontaneous resolution of otitis media with effusion (glue ear) was calculated. Results: A total of 185 patients were included in the study. The male: female ratio was of 1.28: 1 with mean age of 7.71 ± 2.75years. The 6-9 years comprised 88(47.57%) & was the commonest age group involved by OME and it was in the same group where maximum percentage of spontaneous resolutions of disease occurred. Overall 148(80%) of children with glue ear achieved spontaneous resolution. Statistically this number has been highly significant (p=0.001). Conclusion: OME resolves spontaneously in a significant proportion of children in first 3 months of illness. A close follow up is recommended before embarking on surgery which is best reserved for persisting cases.

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