What this deck covers
Otitis Externa in ten clinical teaching cases with worked explanations. Each case gives you a clinical vignette, four options, the correct answer, and an explanation of why each of the other three is wrong.
Diagnoses and management options tested
Across the ten cases you are asked to choose between options such as: Primary fungal colonization of the tympanic membrane, Tenderness to palpation over the mastoid process, Eliciting pain with pneumatic otoscopy, Bulging, erythematous, and immobile, Perforated with active pulsatile middle ear discharge, Retracted with a fluid level behind it, Normal and mobile, though sometimes mildly erythematous, Topical antibiotic-glucocorticoid eardrops, Oral amoxicillin-clavulanate for 10 days, Topical alcohol-acetic acid drops, Oral ciprofloxacin for 7 days, Neomycin, polymyxin B, and hydrocortisone drops, Gentamicin ophthalmic drops, Ciprofloxacin and dexamethasone drops, Acetic acid 2% otic solution, Otomycosis; topical clotrimazole drops, Ramsay Hunt syndrome; oral acyclovir and steroids, Otomycosis (fungal otitis externa), Contact dermatitis to the antibacterial drops, Cholesteatoma of the middle ear, Foreign body insertion in the canal, Syringe the ear canal with warm saline.
Clinical pearls from this deck
- Cerumen protects the canal with an acidic pH (~6.1–6.5) and a hydrophobic barrier. Prolonged moisture (swimming, humidity) macerates the skin and pushes canal pH above 7, creating the alkaline, water-logged environment that lets Pseudomonas aeruginosa and S. aureus invade. OE is fundamentally a disease of the canal skin, not the middle ear.
- Tragal/auricular tenderness is the hallmark of acute OE (>95% of cases) — the tightly bound canal skin overlies a sensitive periosteum. Mastoid tenderness suggests mastoiditis; a dull/immobile TM suggests otitis media. Practical clue: a child who cries when you merely touch the outer ear almost always has otitis externa.
The ten worked cases in this deck, with the images and the full explanation of every option, are part of Pediatric Case Review membership. See what is included.
More from this system: all ent decks and question sets · pediatric reference values.
