Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Cure rate
RCT	126 people with any severity of acute diffuse otitis externa on otoscopy in a primary-care setting	Clinical cure rate 4 weeks 59/65 (91%) with aluminium acetate drops 49/61 (80%) with polymyxin–neomycin–hydrocortisone drops	P >0.2 The RCT may be underpowered to identify a clinically important difference in efficacy between the two treatments used		Not significant
Mean time to clinical resolution
RCT	126 people with any severity of acute diffuse otitis externa on otoscopy in a primary-care setting	Mean time to clinical resolution 9.4 days with aluminium acetate drops 11.1 days with polymyxin–neomycin–hydrocortisone drops	P >0.2 The RCT may be underpowered to identify a clinically important difference in efficacy between the two treatments used		Not significant