Ear, nose & throat · UKMLA & AKT
Otitis media
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test, covering how to recognise this condition. The full SA Note notes add investigations, management and complications, with practice questions on this topic.
Key high-yield points
- Otalgia - unilateral; in pre-verbal children may manifest as ear-tugging, irritability, or disturbed sleep
- Fever - high fever (>38.5°C) suggests more severe infection
- Otorrhoea - purulent discharge indicates TM perforation; pain often improves as pressure is relieved
- Conductive hearing loss - due to middle ear fluid; usually temporary
- Otoscopy - bulging TM, loss of light reflex, erythema, reduced mobility on pneumatic otoscopy
A bulging tympanic membrane with loss of the light reflex is the most reliable otoscopic sign of AOM. Erythema alone is insufficient - a crying child can redden the TM without infection.
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