Treatment of otitis externa with miconazole nitrate - A comparative study involving 85 cases

The hazards of neomycin in local preparations have recently been re-emphasized. Eighty-five patients with otitis externa were treated with one of two preparations between August 1980 and April 1982 - 54 were treated with a cream containing miconazole nitrate and hydrocortisone (Daktacort; Janssen) and 31 with a preparation containing neomycin (Kenacomb; Squibb); Sixty eight percent of the patients were cured within 1 week with both preparations. Most treatment failures were due to a resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The miconazole cream proved as effective as the preparation containing neomycin in the first-line treatment of otitis externa. A gentamicin-containing steroid ointment was effective against the Pseudomonas infection