RESUMO
In order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ear suction [dry ear cleaning] versus ear wash [wet ear cleaning] in patients microbiologically confirmed suffering from otomycosis, a double blind study was conducted on 126 patients to compare the efficacy of the two lines in the treatment of otomycosis. The duration of each trial period was 7 days and the various symptoms and signs of otomycosis were assessed daily by patients and the physician. Patients presented with itchy ear in 126 [100%] of patients, hypoacusis in 107 [85%] of patients, auricular fullness in 95 [75%] of patients and ear pain in 32 [25%] of patients. The most frequent clinical findings as seen by otomicroscopic examination were as follows: Erythema in 113 [90%] of cases, exudation in 95 [75%] of cases, desquamation and maceration of the external ear canal in 57 [45%] of cases. The most common objective evidence of pathogenic involvement was given by a small grey to black "cheesy lumps" in 100 [79.4%] of cases. The following organisms were isolated from these cases: Aspergillus niger in 50 [39.7%] of cases, Aspergillus fumigatus in 30 [23.8%], Aspergillus flavus in 12 [9.5%] of cases and Aspergillus niger plus Candida albicans in 8 [6.3%] of cases. In the remaining 26 cases [20.6%], the walls of the external ear canal were coated with white "cotton- wool" deposits, subsequently identified as Candida albicans. The study has shown that dry ear cleaning to be more effective than wet ear cleaning, in the opinion of both physician [P < 0.05] and patients [P < 0.02]