[Summary of the practice guideline 'Otitis externa' (first revision) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners]. / Samenvatting van de standaard 'Otitis externa' (eerste herziening) van het Nederlands Huisartsen Genootschap.

ABSTRACT

* The practice guideline 'Otitis externa', first developed by the Dutch College of General Practitioners in 1995, has been revised and updated. * It is no longer recommended to perform a KOH test on material collected from the auditory canal in patients with otitis externa. * Eardrops that contain both acid and corticosteroids are preferred over eardrops that contain acid only. * Suitable options include acidic eardrops with hydrocortisone 1% FNA and acidic eardrops with triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% FNA at a dose of 3 drops thrice daily. * The guideline contains a detailed discussion of the ototoxicity of eardrops in patients with tympanic membrane perforation. * Management of these patients, however, remains unchanged the preferred approach is aluminium acetotartrate eardrops 1.2% FNA.