External Auditory Canal Granulations of Varying Aetiology Other than Cholesteatoma: A Series of Seven Cases

Abstract

External Auditory Canal (EAC) granulations can occur due to various causes, each with different presenting features, treatment options, and prognoses. They can arise from trivial situations, such as a neglected Foreign Body (FB), or indicate serious pathology like squamous cell carcinoma. The most common causes of EAC granulations are otitis media, including squamous and mucosal types. However, clinical practice encounters numerous other rare and common causes. The present case series describes seven patients with EAC granulations resulting from different aetiologies apart from Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM). The study was conducted over a six-month period at a Government Medical College (GMC) in North Odisha. It aims to assist clinicians in considering these situations when managing patients with EAC granulation. Proper diagnosis and treatment of these patients resulted in successful outcomes. Therefore, the author recommends considering these underlying causes whenever EAC granulations do not respond to appropriate medical treatment with antibiotics. Radiological imaging, fine needle aspiration cytology, and histopathological studies can help exclude many of these causes from the list of differential diagnoses.

Keywords

• diagnoses
• granulation
• malignant otitis externa