Washington, January 21 (ANI): Antibiotic drops are the most effective and safest therapy to use when treating cases of acute otitis externa, commonly known as swimmer’s ear, says a new review of studies.

Lead author Vivek Kaushik, a consultant otolaryngologist at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, England found topical treatment effectively helps control the pain and inflammation of swimmer’s ear and may even cut down the use of oral antibiotics.

Kaushik said: “Topical antibiotics are effective at treating simple acute otitis externa although in up to 40 percent of cases, oral antibiotics are also prescribed. The findings from our review confirm that topical treatment alone is highly effective and that additional antibiotics are not required.”

Richard Rosenfeld, chairman of otolaryngology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, added: “Considering that acute otitis externa affects between one in 100 and one in 250 of the general population annually, even a 20 percent prevalence of oral antibiotic use in the U.S. would yield about 240,000 unnecessary annual antibiotic prescriptions at the low end.

“Topical therapy is highly effective and can be done with either an antiseptic- or antibiotic-containing preparation, which may also contain a steroid.”

Kaushik, V et al. Interventions for acute otitis externa (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 1. (ANI)