COMPARISON OF EFFICACY OF TOPICAL CIPROFLOXACIN/DEXAMETHASONE WICK WITH ICHTHAMMOL/GLYCERIN WICK IN OTITIS EXTERNA

Objectives: To compare efficacy of 3% Ciprofloxacin1% Dexamethasone and 10% Ichthammol Glycerin as topical treatment regimen of acute otitis externa.Materials and Methods: This study was a Randomized Control Trial conducted over a six-month period, from May 2022 to November 2022, at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan. A total of seventy patients, both male and female, aged between 12 and 60 years, who were diagnosed with moderate to severe acute otitis externa, were enrolled in the study. These patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: Group A, which received 3% ciprofloxacin and 1% dexamethasone, or Group B, which received 10% Ichthammol Glycerin. The efficacy of the treatments was evaluated on day 3 by assessing pain control, using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).Results: Each group contained 35 subjects each. Regarding baseline characteristics, both the groups were similar. The mean VAS score on day 1 was comparable among the 2 groups, i.e., 6.71± 1.15 in group A, and 6.73 ± 1.13 in group B. At day 3, mean VAS was lower in group A, i.e., 2.43 ± 1.36 SD in group A and 3.63 ± 2.04 SD in group B. The effi cacy of treatment was found to be 77.1% (27/35) in group A and 40% (14/35) in group B (p=0.002). Conclusion: The efficacy of Ciprofloxacin/Dexamethasone was significantly higher than Ichthammol Glycerin in terms of pain control in patients with moderate to severe acute otitis externa.