Question 2681
{"accessible":false,"alternatives":[{"id":13117,"text":"in a child"},{"id":13118,"text":"in an immunosuppressed patient"},{"id":13119,"text":"when there is ear pain"},{"id":13120,"text":"when there is narrowing of the external auditory canal"},{"id":13121,"text":"when there is redness of the external auditory canal"}],"archived":false,"correctAlternativeId":13118,"explanation":"\u003cp\u003eMost patients with acute otitis externa do not require imaging. This often presents with ear pain, edema and redness of the external auditory canal. However, immunosuppressed or diabetic patients are at risk of developing aggressive or necrotizing otitis externa. This is an invasive infection of the EAC which can spread to adjacent soft tissues and result in skull base osteomyelitis. Cortical erosion of the bone of the EAC should raise the possibility of aggressive otitis externa.\u003c/p\u003e","id":2681,"imageUrl":null,"imageAttribution":null,"imageAttributionCaseInfo":null,"firstQuestionPath":"/questions/2681","nextQuestionPath":null,"relatedArticles":[{"id":19937,"title":"Necrotizing otitis externa","link":"/articles/necrotising-otitis-externa-1?lang=us"},{"id":161239,"title":"Otalgia","link":"/articles/otalgia?lang=us"}],"alsoUsedIn":[{"id":1719,"kind":"Course","title":"2023 Virtual Conference Private Use - page 1719","link":"https://radiopaedia.org/courses/2023-virtual-conference-private-use/pages/1719"},{"id":365,"kind":"LiveSchedule","title":"365","link":"https://radiopaedia.org/admin/live_schedules/365"},{"id":270,"kind":"LiveSchedule","title":"270","link":"https://radiopaedia.org/admin/live_schedules/270"},{"id":267,"kind":"LiveSchedule","title":"267","link":"https://radiopaedia.org/admin/live_schedules/267"},{"id":1474,"kind":"Course","title":"2023 Virtual Conference Private Use - page 1474","link":"https://radiopaedia.org/courses/2023-virtual-conference-private-use/pages/1474"}],"stem":"\u003cp\u003eIn which of these clinical settings would it be most appropriate to perform imaging of otitis externa?\u003c/p\u003e","menuLinks":[{"text":"Report problem with question","url":"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfO3soWYhOjJ7yErSysyCe5V4A1CqW7WK3rDA7MtAkecMGqNw/viewform?entry.1624461248\u0026entry.553583435=https://radiopaedia.org/questions/2681"}],"attemptsPercentages":[{"alternativeId":"13120","percentage":10},{"alternativeId":"13118","percentage":80},{"alternativeId":"13121","percentage":4},{"alternativeId":"13117","percentage":2},{"alternativeId":"13119","percentage":3}],"promptToLogin":false,"questionManager":false,"articleId":"acute-otitis-externa"}