Audiological management in the recovery phase of bacterial meningitis.

During a specified 12-month period, a prospective study of all children admitted to a 139-bed city children's hospital with confirmed bacterial meningitis enabled assessment audiologically at 48 h, 6 weeks and 12 weeks post-admission using a test battery approach including auditory brainstem evoked responses and tympanometry. Results suggested conductive dysfunction to be a major cause of fluctuating hearing loss within the group. The incidence of sensori-neural loss was 16.6% of ears tested at final outcome. Results are discussed with reference to their implications for audiological management.