Otitis media is inflammation of which part?

• A. Outer ear
• B. Inner ear
• C. Eustachian tube
• D. Middle ear

Answer: (D)

Otitis media is inflammation of the middle ear—the air-filled space behind the eardrum that contains the tiny ear bones (the ossicles) that transmit sound. When this space becomes inflamed, often after a cold, fluid can accumulate and infection can develop, causing ear pain, a feeling of fullness, and sometimes temporary hearing loss. The outer ear is the external canal and eardrum; inflammation there is otitis externa, not otitis media. The inner ear involves the cochlea and balance structures, where inflammation is a different condition. The Eustachian tube itself isn’t the tissue that gets inflamed in this term, though its dysfunction can lead to middle-ear problems. So the middle ear is the correct site.