Clinical and Bacteriological Profile in Chronic Adenoiditis – A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Diseases of the adenoid are a frequent cause for patients to seek medical attention. Adenoids play a crucial role in the aetiology of otitis media, rhinosinusitis, adenotonsillitis and this may predispose the child to long term functional sequelae including auditory impairment. Treatment of chronic adenoiditis includes both medical and surgical methods. The knowledge of bacterial flora and antibiogram play an important role.
Objectives: The primary objective was to study the clinical and bacteriological profile in patients with chronic adenoiditis and the secondary objective was to compare the bacteriology of adenoid surface swab and adenoid core tissue.
Methodology: The cross sectional study was conducted for a period of 18 months from January 2021 to June 2022 among 100 patients who had chronic adenoiditis attending the department of ENT, Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram. Data was collected using a pre-designed proforma and entered into Microsoft excel worksheet and was analysed using SPSS software version 25.0.
Results: The majority of the patients were in between 6-10 years of age. Mouth breathing (100%) was the most prevalent symptom, followed by snoring and nasal obstruction. Most of the patients had grade III adenoid. Adenoid surface swab and core tissue culture provided 78% and 68.2% of the bacterial growth respectively. Majority of adenoid surface swab and core tissue showed normal pharyngeal flora. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella were the pathogens that were most frequently isolated from adenoid surface and core tissue. Presence of similar micro organisms on the surface of the adenoid and core was statistically significant.
Conclusion: Isolation of similar bacteria from the adenoid surface swab and core tissue was statistically significant. Hence adenoid surface swab can be used as a reliable indicator for the identification of pathogens and selection of proper antibiotics in chronic adenoiditis.