Abstract

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is the result of initial episode of acute otitis media and is characterized by a persistent discharge from the middle ear through a tympanic perforation. It is an important cause of preventable hearing loss, particularly in the developing world. Different types of bacteria and fungi cause CSOM. A study was conducted in the department of microbiology, Government Medical college Trivandrum for a period of one year from aAugust 2015 to July 2016 to find out the causative agents of CSOM in patients attending the ENT Department of Government Medical college Hospital Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Out of the 341 samples collected from patients diagnosed with CSOM,  312 were culture positive (91.48%). Among the isolates, 64.74% were bacterial. 27.88% were fungal and the remaining 7.37% were sterile. The predominant species of bacteria isolated was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (60.89%). The other species -Staphylococcus aureus (24.25%), Klebsiella species (4.95%), Ecoli (4.8%), Proteus (4.8%)and Acinetobacter species (0.99%), Enterococci(0.49%).93.97% were monomicrobial and 6.03% were polymicrobial. Fungal isolates were 27.88%.The predominant species of fungi isolated was Aspergillusflavus (28.2%) followed by Aspergillus fumigatus (25.64%). Antibiotic sensitivity of the bacterial isolates were done by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method on Muller Hinton Agar. Antifungal susceptibility testing of the predominant isolates were done by Microbrothdillution method. Patients were treated with apporopriate Antibiotic and Antifungal agents based on the susceptibility testing. Most of the patients were completely cured.

Keywords: chronic suppurative  otitis media ,antimicrobial sensitivity testing.