A Case of Petrositis with Abducens Palsy

Petrous apicitis is an extension of infection from the mastoid air cell tract into petrous apex. Petrous apicitis, a potentially fatalcomplication of suppurative otitis media, presents a variety of symptoms. But the classical findings of petrous apicitis, calledGradenigos syndrome that include abducens nerve palsy, deep facial pain and acute suppurative otitis media, rarely occur.Gradenigos syndrome can be treated with surgery, but the advent of antibiotics and early imaging study allow conservativetreatment in some uncomplicated cases. With the widespread use of antibiotics, petrous apicitis has become an uncommon disease.So most physicians have little clinical experience in their diagnosis and treatment of this disease. We present a case of Gradenigossyndrome, which was unresponsive to conservative treatment. We provide here details of our experience of treating thepatient with surgery without complication.