Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40317309›Full record

Trial reportEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2025

Ear-canal lavage for curing noninvasive otomycosis: A randomized controlled trial.

Jia Zhang, Yusheng Du, Lihua Tang, Fan Song, Guoliang Wang, Xingyu Mei, Lili Hou, Zelin Cui, Zhenghua Zhu

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jia Zhang *Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai, 200080, China.
Yusheng Du *Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai, 200080, China.
Lihua Tang *Department of Microbiology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai City, 200080, China.
Fan SongDepartment of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai, 200080, China.
Guoliang WangDepartment of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai, 200080, China.
Xingyu MeiDepartment of Dermatology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Lili Hou *Department of Clinical Statistics and Respiratory Diseases, Shanghai General HospitalJiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai City, 200080, China. houlili6743@163.com.
Zelin Cui *Department of Microbiology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai City, 200080, China. czl@sjtu.edu.cn.
Zhenghua Zhu *Department of Otolaryngology, Shanghai General Hospital Jiuquan Hospital, Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 100#, Haining Road, Shanghai, 200080, China. brother.fd@163.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6208-1908

Funding

Major Science and Technology Plan Projects from Science and Technology Bureau of Jiuquan City 2024MA1072Major Science and Technology Plan Projects from Science and Technology Bureau of Jiuquan City 2024MA2003the Clinical Trial Foundation of Shanghai General Hospital 2021114-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveFungal infection of the external auditory canal, otomycosis, is generally a superficial, but sometimes stubborn mycotic infection that rarely involves the middle ear. We designed a randomized, controlled cohort study to analyse the treatment effect of ear canal lavage on otomycosis.

methodsThe clinical patients were divided into two groups: an irrigation group and an irrigation + local drug treatment control group. The patients were followed up once a month for three months.

resultsFrom January 2022 to December 2023, a total of 102 patients treated for otomycosis were enrolled, and 98 of the patients were followed up for three months. 22 of the 98 patients (22.45%) had no or minor symptoms. Common symptoms such as pruritus, pain, hearing impairment, etc., presented solely or in combination. Our fungal culture results revealed that, in 83 patients (84.69%), the otomycotic pathogen was Aspergillus, in 3 patients (3.06%) it was Penicillium, in 2 patients (2.04%) it was Candida species, and in the remaining 13 patients (13.27%) it was negative. There were 3 patients (3.06%) with a mixture of fungal culture reports. In the lavage group, 48 (48/52, 92.30%) patients were cured with initial treatment after three months of follow-up, two (2/52, 3.85%) patients were cured after one month but were lost to follow-up after three months, and two (2/52, 3.85%) patients failed after initial treatment, received topical miconazole ointment treatment and were eventually cured. In the irrigation + local drug control group, 48 (48/50, 96.00%) subjects responded to initial treatment without recurrent disease after three months; 2 (2/50, 4.00%) subjects were lost to follow-up. According to Fisher's exact test, there was no significant difference in treatment efficiency between the two groups (P = 0.258).

conclusionThis study demonstrated that the diagnosis of otomycosis requires vigilance from clinicians given its nonspecific or minor symptoms. Both ear canal rinses and local antifungal creams are effective, and sequential treatment via both methods is reasonable.

Indexed as

Antifungal AgentsEar CanalOtomycosisTherapeutic IrrigationAdolescentAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultAntifungal AgentsAuditory meatal lavageMiconazoleOtomycosis

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.