What is acute suppurative otitis media?

  Acute suppurative otitis media is an acute purulent inflammation of the middle ear mucosa.  The main causative agents of acute suppurative otitis media are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus haemolyticus type B and Staphylococcus. It can occur during acute upper respiratory tract infections (acute rhinitis, acute nasopharyngitis, acute tonsillitis), during acute infectious diseases (scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough, influenza, pneumonia, typhoid fever); it can also occur when swimming or diving in unclean water, when milk flows into the middle ear due to improper breastfeeding position of infants, or when the tympanic membrane is traumatized. It is often triggered by a decrease in body resistance due to various reasons, chronic systemic diseases and focal diseases in adjacent areas (chronic tonsillitis, chronic purulent sinusitis), pediatric adenoid hypertrophy, etc. The above diseases can cause pathogenic bacteria to enter the middle ear along the eustachian tube and the damaged eardrum in the middle ear, thus leading to otitis media.  The main symptoms are ear pain, tinnitus, hearing loss, and bloody or purulent fluid flowing out of the ear. It is also accompanied by systemic symptoms such as chills, fever, lethargy and loss of appetite, and pediatric patients may have high fever, convulsions, vomiting and diarrhea.  As mentioned above, acute suppurative otitis media is an acute purulent inflammation of the middle ear mucosa caused by the invasion of pathogenic bacteria into the middle ear. In severe cases, intracranial and extracranial complications such as acute mastoid subperiosteal abscess, meningitis, and brain abscess may occur.