Dossier n. 254/2015 [Abstract] Acute otitis media in childhood. Regional guideline

This guideline on acute otitis media (AOM) in childhood updates the guideline published by Emilia-Romagna region in 2007. AOM is a frequent condition in childhood, causing repeated clinical visits, emergency department visits, and inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics.

Changes from 2007 guideline refer to antibiotic treatment strategy, simplified in a two steps approach:

• prescription of high dose amoxicillin (75 mg/Kg/die) to cure also partially resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae;
• in case of failure, escalation to amoxicillin-clavulanate.

This approach, that takes into account regional data on antibiotic resistance, allows for a better compliance with treatment to reduce antibiotic prescriptions especially of amoxicillin-clavulanate.

The structure of the guideline is also renewed: a red vertical bar highlights changes from the previous version of the regional guideline and differences from the guideline produced by the American Academy of Pediatrics (well known by Italian paediatricians), a green vertical bar indicates contents of practical interest for health professionals.

To increase the usability of the guideline, tables with doses of the recommended drugs and tools for counselling and prevention are also included.

Finally, to make the main document concise and user friendly, the tables of evidence of selected studies are available only as online material.

The guideline, based on the GRADE methodology, was developed by a multi-professional group of regional experts and was externally revised.