BACKGROUND: Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM) is a commonly encountered infection of the middle ear  all over the world. Commonly a disease of the developing  countries  and an estimated  two thirds of the world hearing impaired population is believed to be distributed among these developing countries. CSOM affects about  4.76 % i.e. 31 million cases, with 22.6% of cases occurring annually in under–fives.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 120 ear swabs were collected for culture and antimicrobial sensitivity testing (AST)  from patients attending  ENT department  over a period of one year from October 2016 to September 2017. All the samples were processed in the dept. of microbiology for possible etiological aerobic bacteria and fungi using standard techniques.  The antimicrobial sensitivity testing was done using Kirby–Bauer method.

RESULTS: Out of 120 CSOM patients, 127 microorganisms were isolated. Most common organism isolated was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.83%) followed by Escherichia coli (20%), Staphylococcus aureus(19.16%),Proteus mirabilis (14.16%) Klebsiella pneumoniae (5%) and Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus(1.60%). Among  fungi, Aspergillus spp(3.33%) and  Candida spp(1.60%) were isolated. The isolated organisms  showed higher susceptibility to Sparfloxacin(75%)   followed by Ciprofloxacin(71.87%), Amikacin(62.5%) and Lomefloxacin(48.95%)and most of the isolates were resistant to Cefadroxil(81.25%).

CONCLUSION: Due to the variations in microbial flora in CSOM patients, continuous isolation of the microorganisms and their antibiogram in clinically diagnosed CSOM patients are essential for effective therapeutic protocols. This will go a long way in preventing complications and spread of multidrug resistant strains in particular geographical area. Educating the patients and general public regarding indiscriminate use, misuse or abuse of antibiotics will help to reduce the disease burden of CSOM on individual, state and the society .