Ear drum perforation or Chronic ear disease
Adult

Ears, Nose, Throat (ENT)
HealthPathways

Get localised health information, at the point of care.
Sign in to HealthPathways

Useful Management Information

  • Medical management
    • If ear discharge is present, swab for M/C/S
    • No irrigation of the ear
    • Topical ear medication for 1 week
    • Antibiotics (eardrops or tablets)
    • Tragal pump technique
    • Keep ear dry
    • Analgesia
    • Review after three months by GP
    • Arrange diagnostic audiological assessment
    • Consider fine cut/slice CT scan of temporal bone to rule out extensive

Clinical resources

Minimum Referral Criteria

Does your patient meet the minimum referral criteria?
Category 1 (appointment within 30 calendar days)
  • Discharging ear for longer than 3 months failing to settle with topical medication and new onset otalgia, headaches, vertigo (i.e. suspicious for cholesteatoma) and/or radiological confirmation of cholesteatoma (i.e. bony erosion reported
  • Cholesteatoma strongly suspected, acute symptoms present and/or confirmed by radiology

Category 2 (appointment within 90 calendar days)
  • Discharge ear 3 months failing to settle with topical medication
  • Cholesteatoma suspected; symptoms non-acute
  • Recurrent episodes of discharging ear
  • Identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
Category 3 (appointment within 365 calendar days)
  • No category 3 criteria

If your patient does not meet the minimum referral criteria

  • Assessment and management information may be found on a range of conditions at HealthPathways
  • If the patient does not meet the criteria for referral but the referring practitioner believes the patient requires specialist review, a clinical override may be requested:
    • Please explain why (e.g. warning signs or symptoms, clinical modifiers, uncertain about diagnosis, etc.)
  • Please note that your referral may not be accepted or may be redirected to another service

Essential Referral Information

  • Previous diagnostic audiology assessment (where available and not cause significant delay)
  • Aboriginal or Torress Strait Islander

If a specific test result is unable to be obtained due to access, financial, religious, cultural or consent reasons a Clinical Override may be requested. This reason must be clearly articulated in the body of the referral.

Additional Referral Information

  • Ear swab M/C/S
  • Fine cut/slice CT scan of temporal bone
  • Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Peoples Health Assessment (MBS Item 715) ear and hearing assessment
Last updated 14 February 2024

Send Referrals To

Smart Referrals

Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals

Secure Web Transfer

Gold Coast Health Service District

Internal Referrals

Fax

(07) 5687 4497

Post

Booking and Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215

Enquiries

1300 559 083

Related HealthPathways

No directly related pathways found

Service Availability

Dr Jim Hallam
Medical Director Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT)

Facilities

Gold Coast University Hospital

If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.

Gold Coast Health - For Clinicians
© The State of Queensland 1995-2021 | Queensland Government
Queensland Government acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land and pays respect to Elders past, present and future.