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Complementary, Holistic, and Integrative Medicine

Therapies for Acute Otitis Media

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

	Introduction

 
Acute otitis media (AOM) is diagnosed frequently in early childhood; its peak incidence is between 6 and 15 months of age. (1) Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis are the leading bacterial causes. Eighty percent of AOM cases resolve without treatment within 3 days. (2)(3) This high rate of spontaneous resolution along with variations in diagnostic criteria complicate studies of otitis media. Most cases of AOM are treated with antibiotics and pain relievers, but antibiotics may contribute to antimicrobial resistance or produce adverse effects (AEs) such as diarrhea. (4) These concerns, in part, have led some parents to turn to the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat childhood AOM. This review of published scientific literature examines some commonly used CAM therapies in the prevention and treatment of childhood AOM.

	Natural Health Products

 
     Naturopathic Herbal Ear Drops (NHEDs)
A Cochrane systematic review conducted in 2004 (4) assessed the effectiveness of NHEDs in the management of ear pain associated with AOM in two randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) (Table 1). The first study compared an NHED comprised of Calendula flores (marigold), garlic (Allium sativum), mullein (Verbascum thapsus), and St. John's wort (Hypericum perfoliatum) in olive oil with anesthetic eardrops. (5) The second study compared NHED (garlic, mullein, marigold, St John's wort, lavender, and vitamin E in olive oil) to anesthetic eardrops with and without antibiotics. (6) Findings from these trials point to NHEDs being modestly therapeutic for pain associated with AOM compared with anesthetic eardrops. However, the trials have some methodologic problems: lack of allocation concealment, power calculation, and intention-to-treat analysis. Two children dropped out of the first study because of the odor of NHED; no other AEs were documented. (5) The evidence regarding safety and efficacy of NHEDs seems promising.

Table 1. Clinical Trials of Naturopathic Ear Drops for Acute . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Bukutu, C. Le, and S. Vohra Complementary, Holistic, and Integrative Medicine: The Common Cold Pediatr. Rev., December 1, 2008; 29(12): e66 - e71. [Full Text] [PDF]