Intracranial Complications of Otitis Media: 7 Years of Experience of Hospital de Braga Complicações Intracranianas de Otite Média: A Experiência de 7 Anos do Hospital de Braga

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Intracranial complications of otitis media represents a condition related to high mortality, manifesting itself acutely, being medical and surgical emergencies. They are defined as the spread of the inflammatory/infectious process beyond the middle ear space, with various forms of presentation.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Consulting the clinical patients’ processes with otologic disease and intracranial pathology between 2008 and 2014 treated in Hospital de Braga. Patient characteristics, otologic and neurological disorders, microbiological results, therapeutic approach and outcome were analyzed data.
RESULTS: There was obtained a total of 19 patients with a mean age of 40.4 years. Persistent fever and headache were the main symptoms found. Acute otitis media was the otologic diagnosis more associated with intracranial complication. Six patients had more than one intracranial complication, resulting in a total of 28, half of them corresponding to meningitis.
DISCUSSION: After comparison with similar studies in the literature, we found that our results are similar to those already found, except with regard to the main cause of intracranial complications.
CONCLUSION: Intracranial complications of otitis media should be considered high-risk situations that require immediate medical intervention.