Aerootit

Aerootit
Aerotitis is an inflammatory disease that occurs in the middle ear cavity. The main “distinguishing feature” of this pathology is its etiology. Similar inflammation of the hearing organs occurs due to barotrauma.

The content of the article:
Classification of aerotites
The mechanism of occurrence of aerootitis
The main symptoms of aerootitis
Diagnosis of aerootitis
Treatment of aerootitis
Aerootit
Barotrauma is a physical damage to the air—containing organs of the human body, which occurs as a result of sudden changes in atmospheric pressure. In most cases, barotrauma occurs during takeoff or landing of the aircraft. All passengers get mild barotrauma, but the crew members suffer the most. For people of certain professions, barotrauma is a kind of “occupational disease”. Test pilots, military aviation pilots, pressure chamber testers, submariners and divers, as well as diving enthusiasts fall into the risk group.

Classification of aerotites
Depending on the nature of the course of the disease , aerotitis is usually classified into two broad groups:

complicated aerotitis;
uncomplicated aerotitis.
Complicated aerotitis is characterized by the presence of a secondary bacterial infection. While uncomplicated aerotitis is commonly understood as a catarrhal form of the disease. Depending on the nature of the damage to the patient’s middle ear in aerotitis , it is customary to distinguish 4 degrees of this pathology:

The first degree of aerotitis is characterized by swelling and redness of the eardrum, as well as single burst vessels on it;
With the second degree of aerotitis, the patient has extensive hemorrhage in the cavity of the tympanic membrane;
The third degree of aerotitis is a complete rupture of the eardrum;
Violation of the structures of the auditory ossicle chain with and without subluxation.
There are 4 degrees of severity of complicated aerotitis:

a mild degree of aerotitis, which is characterized by hemorrhage in the eardrum and acute inflammation of the middle ear with the release of purulent discharge;
the average severity of complicated aerotitis has signs of hemorrhage in the eardrum or its complete rupture with the addition of purulent medium inflammation;
the severe degree of complicated aerotitis implies damage to the auditory ossicles and their purulent inflammation;
the extremely severe stage of the disease is acute inflammation of the labyrinth with purulent discharge.
The mechanism of occurrence of aerootitis
The air-containing human organs are arranged in such a way that they are able to compensate for some changes in atmospheric pressure. The only question is how sharp these changes are. With a slight difference, a person feels only some stuffiness of the ears, while with sudden changes in atmospheric pressure, serious injuries sometimes occur. This applies to both a sharp decrease and a sharp increase in pressure. With a decrease in atmospheric pressure, the human eardrum tends to bulge, and with an increase, on the contrary, it retracts. If this happens abruptly, then various injuries occur, both the eardrum itself and the auditory ossicles, up to their fracture.

Any injury is accompanied by an inflammatory process, and aerotitis is no exception. The initial stage of aerootitis has all the symptoms of catarrhal otitis media. Such otitis is accompanied by severe swelling of the mucous membrane of the middle ear, which significantly worsens ventilation, as the lumen of the auditory tube narrows. Thus, a very favorable habitat for pathogenic bacteria is created.

All ENT organs are closely interconnected and any infectious diseases of the upper respiratory tract can cause purulent otitis media. This condition can be considered life-threatening for the patient. The hearing organs are located in close proximity to the structures of the brain, so the complications of aerotitis can be the most serious.

The main symptoms of aerootitis
Symptoms of aerotitis can be very diverse and directly depend on the degree of damage to the middle ear. The main sign of the development of aerotitis is pain syndrome of varying intensity. Ear pain can be mild, causing only slight discomfort to the patient. Such pain is characteristic of a catarrhal uncomplicated form of the disease. If the patient’s eardrum is damaged, then the pain in the ear is intense with irradiation to the behind-the-ear area or the lower jaw area. If a barotrauma is accompanied by a rupture of the eardrum, then at the moment of its damage a person feels acute pain and hears a characteristic clap.

The next symptom of aerotitis is considered to be hearing loss. The degree of hearing loss is also determined by the nature of the injury. If aerotitis is uncomplicated, then after recovery, hearing acuity is fully restored. With more severe forms of the disease, irreversible changes occur and complete restoration of hearing becomes impossible.

With complicated aerotitis, the symptoms of acute otitis are added to the above symptoms, namely:

phenomena of general intoxication of the body;
purulent or serous discharge from the cavity of the external auditory canal;
hyperthermic syndrome (increased body temperature);
general changes in the somatic state (nausea, fatigue, sleep dysfunction, etc.).
If the stage of the disease is characterized as extremely severe, then the patient may experience various disorders in the vestibular apparatus: dizziness, impaired coordination of movements, etc.

It is important to understand that in each case, the symptoms can be very diverse. Only a qualified specialist can determine the nature of the lesions.

Diagnosis of aerootitis
At the first suspicion of barotrauma, the patient should immediately seek the qualified help of an otolaryngologist. The collection of anamnesis or the initial interview of the patient is of great diagnostic importance. Try to describe in as much detail as possible the circumstances under which the barotrauma was received, your feelings during and after the injury and what complaints you have at the moment. It is not recommended to take any medications (anti-inflammatory pills, drops in the ears, etc.) before a visit to the doctor, as this may in some way distort the real clinical picture of the disease.

After the initial interview, an otoscopy is performed by the doctor — a visualizing method of examination that allows the doctor to examine the tissues of the middle ear, and when the eardrum ruptures, it becomes possible to examine the internal structures. To conduct an ENT examination, the doctor uses special mirrors and a directional light lamp. Such a study allows you to determine the extent of the lesion and choose the correct method of treating the patient. This examination does not require special training and is absolutely painless.

Since sudden changes in atmospheric pressure often affect all air-containing organs, not just the ears, the patient is shown additional studies of the nose and pharynx, as well as the lungs. For this purpose, the patient is referred for X-ray examination.

If aerotitis has a complicated form, then a purulent discharge from the ear and a scrape from the nasopharynx are sent for bacteriological sowing to determine the causative agent of infection. This is necessary in order to choose the right antibiotic therapy.

Treatment of aerootitis
If aerotitis is associated with the professional activity of the patient, first of all, he is suspended from work for the duration of treatment, in order to avoid repeated injury. Moreover, a person can return to his work only after the end of the course of treatment, and even then, only if the appropriate medical commission “gives the go-ahead” for this.

Uncomplicated forms of aerotitis of the first and second degree do not require specific treatment and pass independently 7-8 days after the patient has received a barotrauma. All hemorrhages, as a rule, resolve without a trace and only some leave small scars on the eardrum. However, this does not affect the improvement of the patient’s hearing in the future. During the treatment period, symptomatic therapy is prescribed, which includes vasoconstrictive drugs for topical use (ear drops), drugs for the prevention and treatment of concomitant diseases of the upper respiratory tract, etc.

If there is a rupture of the eardrum, then the patient is prescribed systemic use of antibiotics, which are selected by the doctor individually. The eardrum has the ability to regenerate (self-healing), but if this does not happen, it is possible to restore the eardrum surgically. In case of lesions of the auditory ossicles, operations are performed to restore them, up to the replacement of damaged areas with implants. If the patient has purulent lesions of the labyrinth, then it is customary to perform a surgical autopsy (labyrinthotomy).

With timely medical treatment, the prognosis of the disease is considered conditionally favorable. Do not self–medicate – it can lead to irreversible consequences.

Post Views: 428

Chronic exudative otitis media

Chronic tonsillitis

Chronic laryngeal stenosis

Most Popular

WHO: 1 billion people in the world are served by medical institutions without reliable power supply

Gastritis symptoms and what is it

Diarrhea

Rectal prolapse

Recent Comments