A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EFFICACY OF CLOTRIMAZOLE AND FLUCONAZOLE EAR DROPS IN OTOMYCOSIS
Abstract
Background: Otomycosis is a clinical term to describe fungal infection of the external auditory canal. Most common fungi implicated in this infection are Aspergillus and Candida. Treatment of choice for fungal otitis externa includes thorough debridement followed by topical application of antifungal agents.
Objective: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of clotrimazole and fluconazole in empirical treatment and to appraise possible better outcome in otomycosis.
Materials and methods: 300 patients with otomycosis were selected and divided into two groups. Patients in Group A were put on 1% Clotrimazole ear drops and those in Group B were put on 0.3% Fluconazole ear drops. All patients were reviewed weekly for 4 weeks for reduction in symptoms and signs.
Results and interpretation: Baseline characteristics of the study participants are comparable and there was no significant difference between the groups. Pain was the main presenting feature in both the groups followed by itching and ear block. Symptoms lasted for 1- 10 days. Aspergillus Niger was most common fungus isolated, followed by Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida. Comparing the two groups, the effectiveness of fluconazole was found to be better than clotrimazole at the end of 2nd week, 3rd week and 4th week.
Conclusion: In our study, we have observed that topical Fluconazole is more effective than Clotrimazole to treat otomycosis.
Keywords: Otomycosis, Topical antifungals, Fluconazole, Clotrimazole, Fungal otitis externa