AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC BACTERIOLOGY OF OTORRHEA ASSOCIATED WITH TYMPANOSTOMY TUBES IN CHILDREN

The microbiology of in 55 ear aspirates obtained from 34 children with chronic otorrhea was studied. Aspiration of the middle ear exudate wa s done immediately following removal of tympanostomy tube (TT). The mi ddle ear aspirates and swab specimens of the external auditory canals were cultured For aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Sixty-five isolates were recovered only from the middle ears. 73 only from the external ea r canals, and 73 were present at both situs. Analysis of the 138 middl e ear isolates demonstrated the recovery of aerobic bacteria only in 2 8 patients (50%), anaerobes only in seven (13%), and both aerobes tend anaerobes iu 20 (36%). There were 77 aerobic and 61 anaerobic isolate s. Commonly recovered aerobes were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17 isolates ), Staphylococcus aureus (11), Proteus sp. (7), Moraxella catarrhalis (6), Klebsiella pneumoniae (5) and non-typable Hac Haemophilus influen zae (sf. Commonly isolated anaerobes were Peptostreptococcus sp. (25 i solates), Prevotella sp. (10), Bacteroides sp. (8) and Fusobacterium s p. (6). Pseudomonas aeruginosa and S. aureus were more often isolated in children older then 6 years. These findings demonstrate the polymic robial bacteriology of TT-related otorrhea in children. Specimens coll ected from the external auditory canals can be misleading. Reliable in formation call be obtained from the ear exudes when collected through the TT or through the open perforation after their removal.