Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan;39(1):2-9.
doi: 10.4082/kjfm.2018.39.1.2. Epub 2018 Jan 23.

Efficacy of Boric Acid as a Treatment of Choice for Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media and Its Ototoxicity

Indri Adriztina  1 , Linda Irwani Adenin  2 , Yuliani Mardiati Lubis  2
Affiliations
Review

Efficacy of Boric Acid as a Treatment of Choice for Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media and Its Ototoxicity

Indri Adriztina et al. Korean J Fam Med. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases worldwide, especially affecting children. The patients or the parents of the affected children are often worried about the cost of medical visits, prescription medicines, or inconsistently effective medication. The complications of CSOM have been greatly reduced because of the development of antibiotics; however, the irrational use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of organisms resistant to the commonly used drugs. Owing to the increase in antibiotic resistance, the development of new treatments that will efficiently eradicate infectious microorganisms has become imperative. Boric acid solutions are effective in the treatment of CSOM because of their acidic effect. Various databases, such as the PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and SciELO, were searched for references related to the efficacy of boric acid in the treatment of mucosal CSOM, as well as its ototoxicity. The search revealed that boric acid is relatively effective in treating CSOM, especially at a high concentration. Boric acid in distilled water was found safe in animal studies. However, the ototoxicity of boric acid concentrations higher than 4% needs further evaluation, considering the effectivity of boric acid at high concentrations.

Keywords: Biofilms; Boric Acids; Suppurative Otitis Media; Toxicity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mittal R, Lisi CV, Gerring R, Mittal J, Mathee K, Narasimhan G, et al. Current concepts in the pathogenesis and treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media. J Med Microbiol. 2015;64:1103–1116. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anggraeni R, Hartanto WW, Djelantik B, Ghanie A, Utama DS, Setiawan EP, et al. Otitis media in indonesian urban and rural school children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2014;33:1010–1015. - PubMed
    1. Gorgulu O, Ozelci M, Ozdemir S, Yasar M, Olgun MK, Arikan OK. The role of allergy in the pathogenesis of chronic suppurative otitis media. J Int Adv Otology. 2012;8:276–280.
    1. Yorgancılar E, Yildirim M, Gun R, Bakir S, Tekin R, Gocmez C, et al. Complications of chronic suppurative otitis media: a retrospective review. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2013;270:69–76. - PubMed
    1. Chowdhury MA, Alauddin M. Comparative study between tubotympanic and atticoantral types of chronic suppurative otitis media. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull. 2002;28:36–44. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources