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Malignant External Otitis

By

The Manual's Editorial Staff

Reviewed/Revised Mar 2024
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What is malignant external otitis?

Malignant external otitis is a serious infection of your ear canal. It's not cancer, even though the word "malignant" usually refers to cancer.

Your ear canal is the tube that connects the outside of your ear to your eardrum. This infection is lifethreatening because it spreads from your ear canal into the surrounding bone of your skull.

The Outer Ear

The Outer Ear

What are the symptoms of malignant external otitis?

Symptoms include:

  • Severe ear pain

  • Thick, bad smelling fluid draining from your ear

  • Hearing loss

How can doctors tell if I have malignant external otitis?

Doctors will do a CT scan Computed Tomography A CT scan uses a large machine shaped like a large donut to take x-rays from many angles. A computer then takes the x-rays and creates many detailed pictures of the inside of your body. Each... read more to look for infection in the bone around your ear. They’ll also take samples of tissue and fluid from your ear to find out what types of bacteria are causing your infection.

How do doctors treat malignant external otitis?

You may need to stay in the hospital at first. Doctors will:

  • Give you antibiotics by vein through a tube (IV)

  • Clean out your ear canal

  • Sometimes, do surgery to remove badly infected bone

Because the infection is in the bone, you'll need to get IV antibiotics for about 6 weeks. But after you start getting better, you can usually finish getting the antibiotics at home.

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