Otitis externa

This condition is treated in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) clinic.

Pre-referral work-up

History

All referrals should comply to the referral standards and include:

• Otalgia, hearing loss, otorrhoea, pruritic ear canal
• History ear canal trauma e.g. cotton bud/hair pin use
• Diabetic history
• Examination findings of oedematous ear canal (TM may not be seen) and purulent otorrhoea
• Tuning forks consistent with conductive or sensorineural loss

Interim/GP management

To refer a patient with this condition, please see the ENT clinic page for the full referral process and templates.

• Protect ear from water exposure
• Aural toilet (not syringing) if experienced and adequate equipment available
• Tissue spear can be used for dry mopping
• Topical antibiotic/steroid drops
• Consider topical antifungal/steroid drops if fungal (e.g. spores)
• If unresponsive to initial management, prescribe culture directed topical drops
• If perforation present, use Ciloxan or consider locacorten vioform drops

For more information please see the HealthPathways Tasmania website.

Clinic appointments

🚩 Red location flags are clinical indicators of possible serious underlying conditions requiring further medical intervention. They may or may not indicate an emergency.

Emergency

🚩 If otalgia disproportionate with signs in diabetic patient non-responsive to topical therapy - refer immediately to ED to exclude skull base osteomyelitis

 🚩 If ear canal occluded by oedema / unable to clear discharge - refer immediately to ED

If you, or someone else, are experiencing a serious and life-threatening injury or illness call triple zero (000) immediately or go to the nearest Emergency Department.

Learn more about when to access emergency care and non-emergency care options if the injury or illness is not serious or life-threatening.

Availability

North

Launceston General Hospital
Level 3 - Specialist Clinics

Phone: 1300 977 694
Fax: 03 6777 5227

North West

Unavailable.
See HealthPathways Tasmania for more information

South

Wellington Clinics
Phone: 03 6166 0000
Fax: 03 6234 9454

To contact the on-call ENT Registrar, phone the switchboard on 03 6166 8308.