Prevalence of allergy in children with adenoid hypertrophy and otitis media with effusion admitted to the department of pediatric otolaryngology in Poznan

Abstract

Background. Allergic diseases are the most common chronic illnesses in children. It is said that patients with allergy more often suffer from adenoid hypertrophy and otitis media with effusion than non-allergic patients. Objectives. To estabilish the prevalence of allergy in children with adenoid hypertrophy with or without otitis media with effusion (OME) admitted to the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology in Poznan between 05.2017 and 05.2018 and to check if allergy affects the incidence of OME and adenoid hypertrophy. Material and methods. Each patient admitted for adenoidecomy or tympanostomy tube placement or both was carefully interviewed to check if they suffered from allergic diseases. In every patient with OME, a preoperative tympanometry and pure tone audiogram or otoacoustic emission was performed. The data was analyzed statistically. The chi-square test was used, with a p value < 0.05. Results. 153 patients aged 2 to 16 years (68 girls and 85 boys) were admitted to the Poznan Pediatric Otolaryngology Department between 05.2017 and 05.2018. The children were divided in to three age subgroups. 16.9% of children undergoing adenoidectomy and 17.4% of children undergoing adenoidectomy with tympanostomy tube placement suffered from allergic disease. Allergy did not affect the incidence of OME or adenoid hypertrophy, but this finding was not statistically significant. OME diagnosis and ear tube placement was statistically more often seen in boys (p = 0.02, chi2 = 5.39). Conclusions. Prevalence of allergy was higher in boys and they had more often ear tubes placement performed. That difference was statistically significant. Allergy in our study group did not influence the prevalence of OME, nor the adenoid hypertrophy.