Chronic Suppurative Otitis media: Microbial and Antimicrobial Findings

Objective: To identify the most frequent microorganisms associated with chronic suppurative otitis media and their antimicrobial. Patients and Methods: In our study we examined 107 patients for bacteriological findings. All patients were evaluated through detailed history and clinical examination. Patients were divided into 3 groups: chronic suppurative otitis media, chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma, and chronic suppurative otitis media with polyps. Pus samples were collected from the discharging ear(s) and sent to the hospital laboratory where culture and sensitivity studies were done for aerobes, anaerobes and fungi and antibiotic sensitivity patterns. Results: There are 5 different species and organisms and all of them were aerobic. Three of them were Gram-negative and two of them were Gram-positive, whereas no fungi or anaerobe was isolated. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus (more than 50%). Gram-negative bacteria increased in subjects of 20 years and above and Gram-positive bacteria increased in subjects younger than 19 years in examination according to the age group. Drug sensitivities pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed that ciprofloxacin was active against majority 95% of isolates followed by amikacin 85%, gentamicin and tobarmycin 60% and cefotaxime 42%. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were resistant to penicillin, ampicillin and amoxicillin in 76.9% whereas majority was sensitive to Amoxicillin clavulanate (augmentin) 79.4% and cephradine 84.6%. Conclusion: Our study confirmed that the most common isolated bacteria are Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis. Majority of isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Majority of strains of Staphylococcus aureus were resistant to penicillin. Cephradine and augmentin were effective against most of the isolates of Staphylococcus aureus.