TREATMENT OF CHRONIC EAR DISEASE - TOPICAL CIPROFLOXACIN VS TOPICAL GENTAMICIN

Objective: To determine and compare the therapeutic efficiency of cipr ofloxacin hydrochloride and gentamicin sulfate in the treatment of chr onic ear disease. Design: Prospective randomized study. Setting: Acade mic tertiary medical center. Patients: Consecutive referred sample of 44 patients with chronic suppurative otitis media randomized into two groups. Interventions: Ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (200 mg/mL) was adm inistered to the first group (composed of 24 patients), while the seco nd group (composed of 20 patients) received gentamicin sulfate (5 mg/m L) locally, five drops three times a day for 10 days. Results: In the ciprofloxacin group, 21 (88%) of the 24 patients with suppurative chro nic otitis media were cured. On the other hand, only six (30%) of the patients in the gentamicin group were cured. The rest of the patients showed no clinical or bacteriological improvement. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the efficiency of two t opical otic preparations in the treatment of chronic ear disease. The results show that topical ciprofloxacin preparation is more efficaciou s and efficient than topical gentamicin for the treatment of chronic o titis media in the acute stage.