This site is intended for healthcare professionals

account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Common causes of acute otitis media include:

  • common cold
  • acute tonsillitis
  • influenza
  • coryza - profuse discharge of the nose - of measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough.

Rare causes of otitis media include:

  • sinusitis
  • tonsillectomy
  • haemotympanum
  • trauma of the tympanic membrane
  • air flight and scuba diving - barotrauma
  • fracture of the temporal bone

About 29%-50% of all upper respiratory tract infections develop into acute otitis media (1).

In children the relative immaturity of the Eustachian tube and immune defence mechanisms are also probably significant.

Reference:

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page