Antibiotic ear drops favored over popular oral antibiotics for ear infections

Middle ear infections are the most common diagnosis for which children receive antibiotics, and insertion of ear tubes is the most common surgery performed on children.

Many doctors treat these infections with oral antibiotics like amoxicillin, which is absorbed through the blood stream, said Dr. Roland.

The tubes, researchers reported, provide better access to the middle ear, behind the ear drum, so more of the ear drops medicine reach the infection, avoiding potential intestinal and blood absorption that occurs with oral antibiotics. Researchers discovered that the concentration at the infection can be a thousandfold greater than when oral or IV medication is used.

In addition, because the antibiotic is not distributed throughout the body, there is less chance of developing antibiotic resistance.

Dr. Roland has previously demonstrated that middle ear infections are often caused by micro-organisms that are not susceptible to antibiotics approved for pediatric patients. But the ear infections are sensitive to topical ear drops. That research showed that children with ear tubes have different micro-organisms than those without the tubes, thereby requiring different treatment.

Previous research has shown other advantages to topical antibiotics for middle-ear infections as well:

• They tend to be more tolerable for children, so parents are more likely to comply with the whole regimen.
  
  
• They tend to cause fewer gastrointestinal problems, such as diarrhea, gastroenteritis, dermatitis or complications from yeast infections than the oral antibiotics.
  
  
• They lead to less antibiotic resistance, a major goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 1995.