Antibiotic treatment of otitis media with effusion.

There are various forms of medical treatment for otitis media with effusion (OME) in children. One of these is a four week course of an antibiotic. A trial was carried out comparing cotrimoxazole with amoxicillin-potassium clavulanate in 102 cases with 181 affected ears. In addition this trial used various procedures to increase and monitor compliance, and the results showed that the compliant cases did much better than the noncompliant cases and cotrimoxazole was more effective than amoxicillin-potassium clavulanate. When the ethnic groupings were analysed the compliance was lower for the Maori (24%) and Pacific Islander (29%) than the European (49%). The success rate for the compliant cases whose middle ear effusion resolved in one or both ears had a similar result with Maori (40%), Pacific Islander (60%) and European (71%) probably indicating an increased nonmeasured compliance in the latter.