[Acute and recurrent otitis media. Prevention and treatment in the light of current knowledge].

Acute otitis media refers to a clinically identifiable infection of the middle ear with sudden onset and of short duration. By two years of age, approximately 40% of children have had at least one attack of acute otitis media. Of these, 5-10% subsequently experience recurrent infections. Evidence suggests that frequent attacks of acute otitis media may adversely affect neurocognitive and language development and necessitate repeated medical and surgical treatment. Efforts have been made to identify early risk factors associated with this proneness to otitis in order to give the affected children optimal medical care and prophylactic treatment. Based on existing literature, guidelines for prophylaxis and treatment of acute and recurrent acute otitis media are discussed in this paper.