| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Asmatullah 2014 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Boesorire 2000 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Browning 1983 | INTERVENTION: standard antibiotics were not given, the choice was dependent on cultures |
| Browning 1988 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics plus steroids (see CSOM‐4) |
| Clayton 1990 | POPULATION: less than 20% had otorrhoea with "central perforation", others were patients with otitis externa and mastoid cavity problems INTERVENTION: topical antiseptic compared with topical antibiotics |
| Couzos 2003 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Crowther 1991 | COMPARISON: topical antibiotic plus variety of steroids (see CSOM‐4) |
| de Miguel 1999 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1), systemic antibiotics versus none (see CSOM‐2) and topical versus systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐3) |
| Eason 1986 | COMPARISON: 5‐arm study but no direct comparison of topical antiseptics with topical antibiotics with steroids. Included in other reviews (see CSOM‐2, CSOM‐4, CSOM‐5 and CSOM‐7). |
| Esposito 1990 | COMPARISON: systemic antibiotics versus none (see CSOM‐2), topical antibiotics versus none (see CSOM‐1), topical versus systemic antibiotic (see CSOM‐3) |
| Esposito 1992 | COMPARISON: topical versus systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐3) |
| Fliss 1990 | COMPARISON: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Gendeh 2001 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Ghosh 2012 | COMPARISON: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Gyde 1978 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Helmi 2000 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Indudharan 2005 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Jamallulah 2016 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Kasemsuwan 1997 | COMPARISON: topical antibiotic versus none (see CSOM‐1) |
| Kaygusuz 2002 | COMPARISON: topical antibiotics versus none (see CSOM‐1), variety of topical antibiotics plus steroids (see CSOM‐4) |
| Kiris 1998 | COMPARISON: daily aural toilet versus singular aural toilet (see CSOM‐7) |
| Lazo Saenz 1999 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Leach 2008 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Legent 1994 | COMPARSION: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Liu 2003 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Lorente 1995 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Minja 2006 | COMPARISON: topical antiseptics versus placebo/no treatment (see CSOM‐5) |
| Mira 1993 | COMPARISON: adding topical antibiotic to systemic antibiotic (see CSOM‐1) |
| Miro 2000 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Nawasreh 2001 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Nwokoye 2015 | COMPARISON: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Onali 2018 | COMPARISON: systemic antibiotic versus none (see CSOM‐2) |
| Panchasara 2015 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Papastavros 1989 | COMPARISON: topical antiseptics versus placebo/no treatment (see CSOM‐5) |
| Picozzi 1983 | COMPARISON: systemic metronidazole versus placebo in people who already had gentamicin plus hydrocortisone ear drops (see CSOM‐2) |
| Povedano 1995 | COMPARISON: systemic versus topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐3) |
| Ramos 2003 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1), systemic antibiotics added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐2), systemic versus topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐3) and topical antibiotics plus steroid (see CSOM‐4) |
| Renuknanada 2014 | COMPARISON: systemic antibiotics added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐2)‐ |
| Rotimi 1990 | COMPARISON: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Roydhouse 1981 | INTERVENTION: intervention is not of interest for this review ‐ bromhexine (mucolytic agent) |
| Sanchez Gonzales 2001 | COMPARISON: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Siddique 2016 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| Smith 1996 | COMPARISON: aural toilet versus no treatment (see CSOM‐7) |
| Somekh 2000 | COMPARISON: variety of systemic antibiotics (see CSOM‐2) |
| Subramaniam 2001 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Thorpe 2000 | COMPARISON: no comparison of interest; study compares 3 different concentrations of the same topical antiseptic (aluminium acetate) |
| Tong 1996 | COMPARISON: steroids added onto topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐4) |
| Tutkun 1995 | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| van der Veen 2007 | COMPARISON: systemic antibiotics versus none (see CSOM‐2) |
| van Hasselt 1998a | COMPARISON: variety of topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐1) |
| van Hasselt 1998b | INTERVENTION: antibiotics given as a single dose in hydroxypropyl methylcellulose; does not meet the inclusion criteria for the duration of antibiotics (minimum 5 days) |
| Yuen 1994 | COMPARISON: systemic versus topical antibiotics (see CSOM‐3) |
CSOM‐1: Cochrane Review 'Topical antibiotics for chronic suppurative otitis media' (Brennan‐Jones 2018a). CSOM‐2: Cochrane Review 'Systemic antibiotics for chronic suppurative otitis media' (Chong 2018a). CSOM‐3: Cochrane Review 'Topical versus systemic antibiotics for chronic suppurative otitis media' (Chong 2018b). CSOM‐4: Cochrane Review 'Topical antibiotics with steroids for chronic suppurative otitis media' (Brennan‐Jones 2018b). CSOM‐5: Cochrane Review 'Topical antiseptics for chronic suppurative otitis media' (Head 2018a). CSOM‐7: Cochrane Review 'Aural toilet (ear cleaning) for chronic suppurative otitis media' (Bhutta 2018).