My 24 month old has head pains that last for no more than 30 seconds at a time. I was told by my family doctor to take her to the ER. They then admitted her into their peds dept and scheduled an EEG and an MRI for the following morning and afternoon. Everything came back normal as far as the EEG and her brain itself but they diagnosed her with Bilateral automastoiditis. They want her on this antibiotic for 6weeks to 3months and then do another MRI to see if its gone, if not surgery to drain it... Im completely oblivious to anything he said. He used large words and didnt dumb it down to my level at all! please help explain what this is and whats the worst that could happen?
The mastoid bone is the bony thing just above the angle of the jaw and behind the ear. The MRI has diagnosed infection of the middle ear and the mastoid bone (oto-mastoiditis). This is a long-seated infection and will need long-term antibiotics, after which they will repeat the MRI to see how much of the infection has already got cured. In some cases, they need to operate and remove the infected material from inside the bone by opening up the mastoid from outside. I am confident that your daughter will recover soon. You will need to directly ask the doctor to explain the whole thing again with pictures and so on and so forth. Before surgery, I am sure it will be really important for you to understand every little thing about the problem as they will need you to give consent for the operation, if it is needed. (It may not be.)