Strategies to control recurrent acute otitis media in infants and children.

Recurrent AOM is a plague in many societies. The considerable attendant morbidity is best reduced through extended periods of antimicrobial prophylaxis. Children who are not helped by this intervention and who are experiencing sufficiently severe disease become candidates for surgical management with tympanostomy tubes. Should both strategies fail, then an adenoidectomy should be considered. In every case, the practitioner must weigh the severity of the recurrent illness against the real costs and risks of surgery.