Treatment of Mastoiditis

About the disease

Mastoiditis is the inflammation of the mastoid bone, which is located in the inner ear. It is important for proper functioning of the inner ear. It usually develops as a result of an infection of the middle ear, which had not been treated on time. It consists of air sacs. Although this is the bone, the mastoid bone has spongy consistency and it also receives air from all other structures of ears.

According to Healthline, this condition is most common among children. It needs to be treated timely, otherwise it can lead to hearing loss of the affected ear. Also, as the mastoid bone is located in the skull, it can affect the skull and lead to development of brain abscess. In such case a person may develop swelling behind his/her eyes, which is another serious complication of mastoiditis.

Mastoiditis is most common in the children as their eustachian tube had not been formed completely yet, so it can not drain all of the fluid. This can lead to development of inflammation of mastoid bone. Nowadays, this condition is very rare as in most countries ear infections are treated on time with antibiotics before the infection spread to mastoid bone. Good news is that the infection should be really serious and be left untreated for a long time to mastoiditis to develop.

The incidence of mastoiditis is very low, approximately 0.004%. It mostly affects children from the age of 2 months up to 13 months, when their eustachian tubes are not completely developed yet. There is no prevalence between boys or girls.

Symptoms

• Ear pain
• Fluid from the affected ear
• Fever
• Headache
• Redness of the affected area
• Swelling
• Tenderness

Diagnosis

• During a general examination, the otolaryngologist will examine the ears to determine if a person has other ear infections.
• The doctor will ask about the previous history of ear infections.
• A blood test can be used to see if there are signs of an infections.  
• The doctor will conduct imaging tests of the skull and middle ear specifically to examine the mastoid bone more closely and also rule out the possibility of abscess in progressed cases. Imaging tests include an X-ray, MRI and CT scan.
• The doctor may also conduct the lumbar puncture to examine the spinal column to rule out the possibility that infection is present in the spinal column.

Treatment

• Conservative treatment uses courses of antibiotics which can be either taken intravenously or orally. Antibiotics are used to fight the infection.
• Radical mastoidectomy is a surgery used to remove infection mastoid ear cells and also to drain the fluid from the inner ear.

Authors: Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova, Dr. Sergey Pashchenko