Management of intracranial and orbital complications of acute rhinosinusitis and acute otitis media in the post covid-19 era in pediatric patients.

Purpose: Acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS) and acute otitis media (AOM) are common diseases in pediatric populations that rarely lead to intracranial infection and/or orbital complications. The incidence of these complications has increased in recent years and the main aim of this study is to analyze the tendency of this increase during the pandemic years, compared with the pre-pandemic era and to propose our management of ABRS and AOM.

Method: Clinical data from children, admitted to our hospital during the period from January 2018 to March 2024 with a diagnosis of complicated ABRS and AOM was collected. The sample was divided into two groups: Group A (January 2018- December 2020) and Group B (January 2021- March 2024).

Results: The retrospective cohort consisted of 35 patients, seven patients (20%) belong to Group A, twenty-eight patients (80%) belong to Group B. 67.9% of subjects during the COVID-19 era tested positive for SARS CoV-2 infection on average 5.5 months prior to hospital admission. Statistical analysis showed that there was a sharp increase in surgical cases of complicated AOM and complicated ABRS, after the lock-down period, compared to the previous years.

Conclusion: The main findings of the present study are the significant increase of complicated ABRS and AOM as well as severe complications requiring surgical treatment, after the COVID-19 pandemic.