Kaygusuz 2002.

Methods	Four‐arm, non‐blinded, single‐centre, parallel‐group RCT, with 3 weeks duration of treatment and follow‐up
Participants	Location: Turkey, 1 site Setting of recruitment and treatment: university ENT clinic; no dates (published in 2002) Sample size: 80 patients (103 ears) Number randomised: 20 in each intervention group Number completed: 20 in each intervention group Participant (baseline) characteristics: Age: range: 18 to 60, mean 31 ± 11.5 years Gender (F/M): 31 (39%)/49 (61%) Main diagnosis: chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) with ear discharge without cholesteatoma. Perforation in ear membrane and ear discharge longer than 3 months. High‐risk population: Cleft palate (or other craniofacial malformation): not reported Down syndrome: not reported Indigenous groups (Australian Aboriginals/Greenland natives): not reported Immunocompromised: not reported Diagnosis method: Confirmation of perforated tympanic membrane: yes (otoscopic examination) Presence of mucopurulent discharge: 100% Duration of symptoms (discharge): longer than 3 months Other important effect modifiers: Alternative diagnosis of ear discharge: not reported Number who have previously had grommets inserted: not reported Number who have had previous ear surgery: 0% Number who had previous antibiotic treatment for CSOM: not reported Inclusion criteria: Patients diagnosed with CSOM with ear discharge without cholesteatoma Perforation in ear membrane and ear discharge longer than 3 months Exclusion criteria: Patients < 18 years old Previous ear surgery Patients with cholesteatoma General health problems Allergy to aminoglycoside and fluoroquinolone antibiotics
Interventions	Topical ciprofloxacin (n = 20): 0.3% ciprofloxacin hydrochloride eardrops, 2 drops, 3 times in a day, treatment duration = 21 days Topical tobramycin (n = 20): 0.3% tobramycin eardrops, 2 drops, 3 times in a day, treatment duration = 21 days Topical ciprofloxacin + dexamethasone (n = 20): 0.3% ciprofloxacin hydrochloride PLUS 0.1% dexamethasone combination eardrops, 2 drops, 3 times in a day, treatment duration = 21 days Topical tobramycin + dexamethasone (n = 20): 0.3% tobramycin PLUS 0.1% dexamethasone combination ear drops, 2 drops, 3 times in a day, treatment duration = 21 days Concurrent treatment: daily aspiration during exam for 3 weeks
Outcomes	Outcomes of interest in the review: Primary outcomes: Resolution of ear discharge "dry ear", measured at between 2 to 4 weeks. Otoscopically confirmed. Secondary outcomes: Not reported
Funding sources	No information provided
Declarations of interest	No information provided
Notes	Part of a 4‐arm trial with the following treatment groups: Topical ciprofloxacin Topical tobramycin Topical ciprofloxacin + dexamethasone Topical tobramycin + dexamethasone Only the first 2 arms are presented in this review Unit of randomisation: person Methods for including patients with bilateral disease: unclear
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: no clear statement regarding "randomized". No description about randomisation method.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: there is no information about allocation concealment
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Comment: there is no clear statement regarding whether the study was blinded
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Comment: there is no clear statement regarding whether the study was blinded
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Comment: no participants were lost to follow‐up
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Comment: there was no study protocol mentioned within the paper and no protocol was found on clinicaltrials.gov All of the outcomes mentioned in the methods section are reported in the results