Abstract
Sinusitis is one of the most common diseases presented to the primary care practioner. In this setting it is key to distinguish those children who have uncomplicated viral upper respiratory tract infection from those who have acute bacterial sinusitis. Sinusitis may be diagnosed based on the presence of persistent or severe respiratory symptoms or when a respiratory illness has a biphasic presentation. Radiographs or computed tomography scans are not usually needed to diagnose sinusitis in children. Well-designed randomized, controlled trials demonstrated the benefit of antibiotics compared to placebo. Antimicrobial therapy should be targeted against the three major pathogens responsible for sinusitis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis. Amoxicillin or amoxicillin/clavulanate are the antibiotics of choice for children with acute bacterial sinusitis.
Keywords::
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Gregory P DeMuri is a member of Speaker‘s Bureaus for GlaxoSmithKline and Merck and Co. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.