CONCLUSION
Our experience of using a standardized protocol for investigating and treating patients with NOE helped to facilitate a consistent approach within the department. We found selected patients obtain good outcomes with short course intravenous antimicrobial therapy +/- early debridement but this study was not powered to determine statistical significance. A randomised trial with more patients would confirm evidence of non-inferiority of short course treatment in NOE.
Table 1: Otoscopy and CT scan grading on admission