Topical ciprofloxacin versus topical gentamicin for chronic otitis media.

We compared the therapeutic efficiency of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride and gentamicin sulfate in the treatment of chronic otitis media. A total of 88 patients aged 9-62 years with chronic suppurative media were randomly placed into two groups. In the first group, 48 patients (54.5%) received topical ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, while in the second group 40 patients (45.5%) received local gentamicin sulfate. Of the 48 patients who received ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, 42 (87.5%) were cured, while in 6 patients (12.5%) the treatment failed. In the gentamicin group, 12 (30%) of the patients were cured, while 28 patients showed no clinical or bacteriological improvement. Topical ciprofloxacin is safe and more efficacious and efficient than topical gentamicin in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic suppurative otitis media.