Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Bacterial Isolates in Patients of Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India

Introduction: CSOM is a massive public health problem with incidence higher in developing countries like India, especially among low socio-economic society because of malnutrition, overcrowding, poor hygiene, inadequate health care, and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. It is associated with various complications like persistent otorrhoea, hearing impairment, mastoiditis, labyrinthitis, facial nerve paralysis to more serious intracranial abscesses etc. The knowledge of microbiological profile is essential to enable efficacious treatment of this disease & thereby reducing the potential risk of complications.
Methodology: This study was aimed to determine the microbial profile & their antimicrobial resistance pattern using Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method among the patients suffering from CSOM between April 2013 to March 2014. Results: Out of 216 samples processed, isolates were seen in 145 (67.1%) cases with male to female ratio of 1.5: 1 and age group affected was 10-20 years. Most common organism isolated was Pseudomonas spp. (49%) followed by S. aureus (35.9%). Pseudomonas spp. showed high degree of resistance to gentamicin (57.7%) and ciprofloxacin (53.5%). Also, S. aureus was found resistant to ciprofloxacin (61.5%) and cotrimoxazole (40.4%).
Conclusion: Management of CSOM consists mainly of eradicating infection and closure of tympanic membrane. Periodical monitoring of bacterial isolates and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern is necessary for administering appropriate antibiotics for empirical treatment and also helps in reducing the potentially disabling and fatal complications of CSOM.