Nanocrystalline Silver for the Treatment of Otomycosis: A Retrospective Study

INTRODUCTION: Otomycosis is a common fungal ear infection usually found in tropical and subtropical countries where infections arise due to hot and humid conditions. Also, these infections have a high recurrence rate with limited therapeutic options, which makes their management difficult. There is a long history of applying various antiseptic agents consisting of silver specifically for these broad-spectrum infections. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are futuristic nano-size products for controlling the microbial infection. The study aimed to determine the antifungal properties of nanocrystalline silver in patients with otomycosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in Pune (India) in the department of Ear Nose Throat & Head at the Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and research center, Pune (India) for a period of one year (2019 -2020). Our study included 100 patients (58 male and 42 female) with clinically diagnosed otomycosis, which was treated by applying nanocrystalline silver gel-soaked Gelfoam. RESULTS: Our study had patients of 18 to 60 years, with the highest prevalence in males (58%) aged 30 to 45 years. A large number of infection cases were reported at the hospital, i.e., 62 cases during the wet season as compared to 38 cases during the dry season. Commonly found fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus (55%), followed by Candida (45%). Improvements in symptoms were observed in 89% of the patients (70% within 5 to 6 days and 19% from 7 to 14 days). CONCLUSION: Applying nanocrystalline silver cured most of the patients (89%) within 14 days. Treating otomycosis patients with nanocrystalline silver demonstrated beneficial results. Further studies with larger samples should be conducted to validate the benefits of nanocrystalline silver.