Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa

Acute otitis externa (AOE), or diffuse inflammation of the external ear canal, causes a range of symptoms, including otalgia, otorrhoea, hearing loss and itching. Despite AOE being common, with a 12-month prevalence of approximately 1%, there is a paucity of evidence-based treatment guidelines. This...

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Main Author: Kim Outhoff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 2014-11-01
Series:South African Family Practice
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Online Access:https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4181
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author Kim Outhoff
author_facet Kim Outhoff
author_sort Kim Outhoff
collection DOAJ
description Acute otitis externa (AOE), or diffuse inflammation of the external ear canal, causes a range of symptoms, including otalgia, otorrhoea, hearing loss and itching. Despite AOE being common, with a 12-month prevalence of approximately 1%, there is a paucity of evidence-based treatment guidelines. This contributes to a wide variation in its management, especially in general practice. In particular, there appears to be confusion over the roles of topical and oral antibiotics, as well as concerns about ototoxicity and the emergence of microbial resistance potentially caused by topical preparations. This article reviews the current evidence-based treatment of AOE.
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spelling doaj-art-c4ee035546d54cf5895c17b1c80632272025-08-20T03:06:54ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042014-11-0156610.4102/safp.v56i6.41813374Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externaKim Outhoff0Department of Pharmacology, University of PretoriaAcute otitis externa (AOE), or diffuse inflammation of the external ear canal, causes a range of symptoms, including otalgia, otorrhoea, hearing loss and itching. Despite AOE being common, with a 12-month prevalence of approximately 1%, there is a paucity of evidence-based treatment guidelines. This contributes to a wide variation in its management, especially in general practice. In particular, there appears to be confusion over the roles of topical and oral antibiotics, as well as concerns about ototoxicity and the emergence of microbial resistance potentially caused by topical preparations. This article reviews the current evidence-based treatment of AOE.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4181acute otitis externaevidence-based treatment
spellingShingle Kim Outhoff
Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa
South African Family Practice
acute otitis externa
evidence-based treatment
title Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa
title_full Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa
title_fullStr Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa
title_full_unstemmed Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa
title_short Evidence-based treatment of acute otitis externa
title_sort evidence based treatment of acute otitis externa
topic acute otitis externa
evidence-based treatment
url https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/4181
work_keys_str_mv AT kimouthoff evidencebasedtreatmentofacuteotitisexterna