Obligatory medical device diagnostics.
- Otoscopy (ear examination) – to evaluate the tympanic membrane; acute otitis media (AOM) is present according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (APP) guidelines if the following criteria are met:
- Moderate to severe protrusion of the tympanic membrane is present or new onset otorrhea (ear discharge; not due to acute otitis externa/ear canalitis)
- Minor protrusion of the tympanic membrane with otalgia (earache) occurring within 48 hours or marked redness of the tympanic membrane
Exclusion criterion for AOM: absence of inflammatory fluid accumulation in the tympanic membrane.
Optional medical device diagnostics – depending on the results of the history, physical examination, laboratory diagnostics and obligatory medical device diagnostics – for differential diagnostic clarification or to exclude complications.
- Tympanometry (middle ear pressure measurement) – for suspected tympanic effusion (synonym: seromucotympanum).
- Computed tomography of the skull (cranial CT, cranial CT or cCT – if mastoiditis (mastoid process inflammation; inflammation in the mastoid process of the temporal bone with bone fusion)/brain abscess or cholesteatoma (pearl tumor) as the method of first choice.
- Magnetic resonance imaging of the skull (cranial MRI, cranial MRI or cMRI) – if mastoiditis / brain abscess or cholesteatoma is suspected.
- Magnetic resonance imaging of the cerebral vessels (MRA with contrast medium for vascular imaging) – if sinus vein thrombosis is suspected (SVT; occlusion of a cerebral sinus (large venous blood vessels of the brain arising from duraduplications) by a thrombus (blood clot)).
- Audiometry (hearing test; in chronic otitis media to determine baseline hearing loss), auditory evoked potentials and nystagmography – to exclude dysfunction after complicated or chronic otitis media.
