OTITIS-MEDIA IN CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS

Fifty children who received a cochlear implant between 1991 and 1995 w ere evaluated for incidence of acute otitis media (AOM). Thirty-seven (74%) children had AOM before implantation and 8 (16%) after implantat ion. All children who had AOM after implantation had a history of AOM. A subgroup of 14 children required ventilating tubes for recurrent AO M before implantation. Five (35.7%) in this group had AOM after implan tation. The incidence and severity of AOM decreased after implantation . All episodes of postimplant AOM were successfully treated with routi ne oral antibiotics, and no infectious complications occurred. A histo ry of recurrent AOM should not inordinately delay cochlear implantatio n.