Abstract
Objectives: To explore the impact of COVID-19 on the management and outcomes of acute paediatric mastoiditis across the UK. Design: National retrospective and prospective audit. Setting: 48 UK secondary care ENT departments. Participants: Consecutive children aged 18 years or under, referred to ENT with a clinical diagnosis of mastoiditis. Main outcome measures: Cases were divided into Period 1 (01/11/19-15/03/20), before the UK population were instructed to reduce social contact, and Period 2 (16/03/20-30/04/21), following this. Periods 1 and 2 were compared for population variables, management and outcomes. Secondary analyses compared outcomes by primary treatment (medical/needle aspiration/surgical). Results: 286 cases met criteria (median 4 per site, range 0–24). 9.4 cases were recorded per week in period 1 versus 2.0 in period 2, with no winter increase in cases in December 2020-Febraury 2021. Patient age differed between periods 1 and 2 (3.2 vs 4.7 years respectively, p < 0.001). 85% of children in period 2 were tested for COVID-19 with a single positive test. In period, 2 cases associated with P. aeruginosa significantly increased. 48.6% of children were scanned in period 1 vs 41.1% in period 2. Surgical management was used more frequently in period 1 (43.0% vs 24.3%, p = 0.001). Treatment success was high, with failure of initial management in 6.3%, and 30-day re-admission for recurrence in 2.1%. The adverse event rate (15.7% overall) did not vary by treatment modality or between periods 1& 2. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant change in the presentation and case mix of acute paediatric mastoiditis in the UK.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 120-130 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Clinical Otolaryngology |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2022 |
Keywords
- acute mastoiditis
- antibiotic
- COVID
- paediatric
- surgery