Anatomy & Physiology: Current Research
Open Access

A Short Note on Otomycosis

Yoko Tawada^{* *}Correspondence: Yoko Tawada, Department of Anatomy, University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, Email:

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Description

Otitis externa is a fungal infection that affects the outer ear and can also impact the middle ear, which is affected in more than 10% of all otitis externa cases. Ear bacterial infections are often acute, whereas mycotic infections can be acute or chronic, causing inflammation and irritation. Bacterial infections are the most common cause of severe infections, which can result in pus secretion. The incidence of Otomycosis, a chronic ear disease of the external auditory canal, is highest in the hot and humid seasons and lowest in the cold seasons. Candida, Aspergillus, Penicillium and other pathogenic bacteria are the most common causes of otomycosis which cause local histological alterations. Bone invasion or tissue destruction for example, are not common in Aspergillus infections.

To minimize the detrimental effects of otomycosis on quality of life, early detection and care is needed. Despite the fact that a variety of interventions are available, their efficacy has seldom been compared, making it difficult to choose the best treatment. The authors used pairwise and Network Meta-Analyses (NMAs) to analyze the relative effects of two drugs in patients with otomycosis in terms of prognosis, complications, and other critical outcomes.

There were three main reasons for conducting this meta-analysis. For starters, the external auditory canal's architectural shape has a physiological curvature, which means that different methods of medicine administration will have an impact on their efficacy. Antifungal medications are often cream compositions that cover only a portion of the recurrent lesions. Non-antifungal medications, on the other hand, are usually liquid and penetrate deep into the external auditory canal, reducing local inflammation and exudation while also covering the lesion completely. Second, antifungal medications contain very small levels of hormones, which reduce local inflammation and stop fungi proliferation faster than non-antifungal drugs.

It's important to acknowledge the study's limitations. To begin with, the included studies utilized a variety of criteria to determine cure, and some provided data that could not be used in this meta-analysis, resulting in publication bias. Finally, there have been few relevant studies in this sector, and more research is needed.

External auditory canal secretion smears are used to diagnose otomycosis, which is a prevalent and common clinical illness. Once this disease has been identified, treatment should begin as soon as possible.

Antifungal pharmaceuticals and traditional antiseptic medications are beneficial in treating otomycosis symptoms, according to this meta-analysis and literature review. Hearing was also improved significantly as a result of these therapies. Overall, topical treatment was found to be a safe, effective, and nondestructive alternative for patients who were refractory to first medicinal therapy in the modest number of studies done. Antifungal medicines showed a superior overall therapeutic impact with fewer problems; nonetheless, most patients found treatment unpleasant due to the evident consequences of earache. Traditional antibiotics are linked to a higher number of side effects, despite the fact that treatment is reasonably thorough and inexpensive. On the basis of the condition, otolaryngologists can use one medication or a combination of two medications.