Otitis media: an update on current pharmacotherapy and future perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common childhood bacterial infection and also the leading cause of conductive hearing loss in children. Currently, there is an urgent need for developing novel therapeutic agents for treating AOM. AREAS COVERED: Structured search of current literature. PubMed was searched for published literature in areas of pharmacotherapeutics, preventive therapies and complementary treatments for OM. The intent of this review is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of therapeutics for AOM, including preventive modalities and complementary medicine. EXPERT OPINION: the management of AOM in young children is still evolving and depends on patterns of bacterial colonization and antimicrobial resistance in the community. The introduction of vaccinations against potential respiratory tract pathogens has altered the frequency of recovery of pathogens causing ear infections in children. Even though not all patients require antimicrobial therapy to overcome their infection, these agents improve symptoms faster and lead to fewer treatment failures. Further studies are warranted to evaluate which patients would best benefit from antimicrobial therapy.