Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of antibiotic treatment for pediatric acute otitis media in the emergency medicine setting.
PATIENTS: Sixty-five children under age 15 who visited an emergency medicine center for acute otitis media from October 2008 to the end of March 2009.
METHODS: Mild and serious cases were treated according to guidelines. In moderate cases, analgesic and non-antibiotic drugs were administered. If patients complained of pain after taking analgesics, antibiotic treatment was started at the parent's discretion. The next day, we compared clinical findings.
RESULTS: In this study, we reduced antibiotic use by 4.6%. We found that there was no significant difference in improvement between the antibiotic and non-antibiotic treatment groups. Among the moderate cases, 23.3% were started on antibiotic treatment based on a parental decision.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that, in the emergency medicine field, applying a safety net might reduce antibiotic use.
