Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rennes University Hospital, Pontchaillou, 2 rue Henri le Guilloux, 35000, Rennes, France.
Faculté de Médecine de Rennes, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Dec;278(12):4775-4781. doi: 10.1007/s00405-021-06609-8. Epub 2021 Feb 8.
The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of ear protection (earplug and surf hood) in preventing the development of external auditory exostosis (EAE) in surfers.
We performed a prospective observational study. Volunteer surfers were recruited from June 2016 to October 2017 on the Brittany coast in France. Each participant filled in a questionnaire and underwent otoscopic digitalized photography to establish the degree of external ear obstruction by two different practitioners. The correlation between the percentage of external ear obstruction and the time spent in water with or without protection was evaluated. Risk factors of EAE were assessed.
Two hundred and forty-two ears were analysed. The incidence of EAE was 89.96% with an average rate of obstruction of 37.65%. Risk factors for EAE were male sex (p = 0.0005), number of years practicing surf (p < 0.0001) and symptoms of ear obstruction (p = 0.0358). A significant correlation was found between EAE severity and number of hours spent in water without any protection (earplugs or surf hood) (p < 0.0001). No correlation was found between EAE severity and time spent in water with earplugs (p = 0.6711) but a correlation was identified between obstruction and time spent in water with surf hood (p = 0.0358).
Wearing earplugs is an effective way to prevent EAE in surfers unlike surf hood.
本研究旨在探讨耳塞和冲浪帽对预防冲浪者发生外耳道骨瘤（EAE）的效果。
我们进行了一项前瞻性观察性研究。2016 年 6 月至 2017 年 10 月，在法国布列塔尼海岸招募了志愿者冲浪者。每位参与者填写一份问卷，并接受耳镜数字化摄影，由两名不同的从业者评估外耳阻塞的程度。评估了外耳阻塞百分比与有或无保护措施下水时间之间的相关性。还评估了 EAE 的危险因素。
分析了 242 只耳朵。EAE 的发病率为 89.96%，平均阻塞率为 37.65%。EAE 的危险因素为男性（p=0.0005）、从事冲浪的年数（p<0.0001）和耳部阻塞症状（p=0.0358）。EAE 严重程度与无任何保护措施（耳塞或冲浪帽）下水时间之间存在显著相关性（p<0.0001）。EAE 严重程度与戴耳塞下水时间之间无相关性（p=0.6711），但与戴冲浪帽下水时间之间存在相关性（p=0.0358）。
与冲浪帽不同，戴耳塞是预防冲浪者发生 EAE 的有效方法。
