Impact of Covid-19 on secretory otitis media (SOM) in terms of rate of intervention, effusion detected intraoperatively and seasonal variation
Reviewed by Madhup K Chaurasia

It is widely known that secretory otitis media (SOM) has seasonal variations. In well-judged cases, there is middle ear effusion found at the time of surgery. In this retrospective study, the authors have tried to assess if Covid-19 changed these features of the disease which is very prevalent in children. The subjects comprised children under 18 years and a comparison was made retrospectively between the year preceding Covid-19 and the year of the pandemic. The results suggested that gender and ethnicity in the Covid-19 period remained unchanged. The average number of myringotomies and tube placement procedures declined significantly in terms of the weekly numbers. Most cases were still done in spring and, hence, the seasonality remained unchanged. The decline may be due to a number of factors, such as hesitation of adults to bring children to hospitals, reduced incidence due to isolation, enhanced protective measures and distancing. Also, theatre availability was limited. The quarantine period also allowed time for non-surgical measures to resolve the problem. It is interesting that there was a higher number of middle ear effusions found intraoperatively. It is possible that the same factors may have helped better case selection. A limitation of this study is that it does not analyse the setting of comorbidities. The study offers lessons forward to reduce the incidence of SOM.

Myringotomy tube placement: understanding the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Uppal PA, Jaypal A, Jetjomiong T, et al.
J LARYNGOL OTOL
2024;138(3):279–83.