Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Symptoms of AOM
RCT 3-armed trial	105 infants aged 3 months to 1 year with AOM	Persistent ear infection 9 to 11 days 21/30 (70%) with myringotomy plus placebo 2/30 (7%) with antibiotic (amoxicillin–clavulanic acid)	P <0.001	Effect size not calculated	antibiotic
RCT 3-armed trial	105 infants aged 3 months to 1 year with AOM	Persistent ear infection 3 to 6 days 28/35 (80%) with myringotomy plus placebo 11/35 (31%) with antibiotic (amoxicillin–clavulanic acid)	P <0.0001	Effect size not calculated	antibiotic
RCT 4-armed trial	171 children aged 2 to 12 years with AOM	No pain 24 hours 26/36 (72.2%) with myringotomy 34/47 (72.3%) with amoxicillin (250 mg three times daily for 7 days)	P value not reported Reported as not significant for myringotomy v amoxicillin alone		Not significant
RCT 4-armed trial	171 children aged 2 to 12 years with AOM	No pain 7 days 31/35 (89%) with myringotomy 43/46 (93%) with amoxicillin (250 mg three times daily for 7 days)	P value not reported Reported as not significant		Not significant
RCT 3-armed trial	83 episodes of AOM in children, aged 2 to 12 years with severe AOM or recurrent AOM	Initial treatment failure 12 hours 23% with myringotomy plus placebo 4% with amoxicillin (40 mg/kg/day in 3 divided doses for 14 days) Absolute numbers not reported	P = 0.006 Results include severe episodes of AOM in children aged 2 to 12 years only	Effect size not calculated	amoxicillin