Ear diseases in children presenting at Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital

Ear diseases are a common presentation in the ENT out-patient department. These diseases can have sequelae if not treated early which may cause increased morbidity, hearing disability and even mortality. Identifying these conditions early and treating them can reduce these unwanted sequelae. A prospective study over a period of three years was undertaken in a tertiary care hospital in Kathmandu. All children presenting with ear diseases consecutively in the ENT out-patients were included and their data was recorded in a pro forma. The data was analysed for frequency and cross-tabulated. The study included 2218 children with ear diseases among which 868 (39.1%) were pre-school and 1350 (60.9%) were school going children. The male to female ratio was 1.5:1. The most common otological problem was wax impaction (40.2%), followed by acute otitis media (AOM) with 24.3%, chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) with 17.7% and acute otitis externa (AOE) with 7.5% of the total cases. The other conditions were otitis media with effusion (2.8%), foreign bodies in the ear (2.3%), otomycosis (1.7%), preauricular sinus (1.1%), sensorineural hearing loss (0.8%), trauma to the ear (0.7%), keloids (0.3%), microtia (0.2%) and perichondritis (0.2%).The three year olds had the highest number of otological diseases with 9.2% of the total among the ages studied. It is felt that proper education of health care providers regarding ear diseases and also awareness in the community can prevent and reduce the disability and complications of these conditions.