A systematic review of antimicrobial treatment regimens and their outcomes in necrotising otitis externa.

Background: Necrotising otitis externa is a serious infection with minimal evidence underpinning its management. This review aims to synthesise published evidence of antimicrobial therapies and their outcomes in necrotising otitis externa.

Methods: The review was PROSPERO registered (CRD42022353244) and conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses ('PRISMA') guidelines. A robust search strategy filtered 28 manuscripts into the final review. Antimicrobial therapy and clinical outcome data were extracted and analysed.

Results: Published studies are heterogeneous, with high risk of bias and low certainty. Reporting of outcomes is poor and extremely variable. First-line therapy is most commonly in-patient (95 per cent) empiric fluoroquinolone (68 per cent) delivered intravenously (82 per cent). The lack of granular data and poor outcome reporting mean it is impossible to correlate treatment strategies with clinical outcomes.

Conclusion: Robust, consistent outcome reporting with reference to treatments administered is mandatory, to inform clinical management and optimise future research. Optimal antimicrobial choices and treatment strategies require clarification through prospective clinical trials.