Cerumen Impaction of Both Ears
Conditions
Brief summary
Patients in Wong Siu Ching Clinic and Tai Po Clinic who are found to have ear wax after physical examination will have ear syringing done, without pre-ear oil application. On the other hand, patients in Fanling Family Medicine Centre with ear wax will be given ear oil one week before performing ear syringing. We will compare the respective success rates of ear syringing from these 2 groups, the mean numbers of syringing attempts , as well as any complications such as ear canal abrasion, ear drum perforation, any pain or vertigo reported by patients. For those cases who fail ear syringing , olive oil will be prescribe and arrange 1 week follow up for ear syringing .
Detailed description
Patients in Wong Siu Ching Clinic and Tai Po Clinic who are found to have ear wax after physical examination will have ear syringing done, without pre-ear oil application. On the other hand, patients in Fanling Family Medicine Centre with ear wax will be given ear oil one week before performing ear syringing. We will compare the respective success rates of ear syringing from these 2 groups, the mean numbers of syringing attempts, subjective improvement in hearing , as well as any complications such as ear canal abrasion, ear drum perforation, any pain or vertigo reported by patients. For those cases who fail ear syringing , olive oil will be prescribe and arrange 1 week follow up for ear syringing .
Interventions
PROCEDUREear wax syringing without pre ear oil treatment
Active Comparator: ear wax syringing with pre ear oil treatment Sham Comparator: ear wax syringing without pre ear oil treatment
Sponsors
Hospital Authority, Hong Kong
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
non randomised control trials
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 100 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Patients \>18 years old, who complain about blocked ear found to have ear wax which impacts ear drum and able to sign consent.
Exclusion criteria
* Patients who are contraindicated to ear syringing will be excluded : otitis externa , otitis media , history of tympanic membrane perforation , history or ear surgery , unilateral deafness , in-co-operated patient (eg. Children ) , history of vertigo after ear syringing .
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The mean number of syringing attempts (50 ml syringe) | 1 day | For both groups the mean number of syringing attempts (and 95% confidence interval) is calculated and compared by testing the difference between the means, using a t test for independent samples. For patients with persistent earwax in both ears , the mean number of syringing attempts needed for both ears in one patient is used for the calculations . All ears in which the wax is still persistent after another 10 syringing attempts are given a value of 11 in the calculations . Data for this study is analyzed using SPSS version 26 . |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The presence of ear canal abrasion, | 1 month | The presence of ear canal abrasion, |
Countries
Hong Kong
Contacts
Primary ContactChang Wells (resident)
Outcome results
None listed