Red Flags-Warning of Ear Disease

1. Hearing loss with a positive history of familial hearing loss, TB, syphilis, HIV, Meniere’s disease, autoimmune disorder, otosclerosis, von Recklinghausen’s neurofibromatosis, Paget’s disease of bone, head trauma related to onset.
2. History of pain, active drainage, or bleeding from an ear.
3. Sudden onset or rapidly progressive hearing loss.
4. Acute, chronic, or recurrent episodes of dizziness.
5. Evidence of congenital or traumatic deformity of the ear.
6. Visualization of blood, pus, cerumen plug, or foreign body in the ear canal.
7. Conductive hearing loss or abnormal tympanogram.
8. Unilateral or asymmetric hearing loss; or bilateral hearing loss > 80 dB.
9. Unilateral or pulsatile tinnitus.
10. Unilateral or asymmetrically poor speech discrimination scores.

Important Notice

The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Inc. and Foundation (AAO-HNS/F) Policy Statements are guidelines only. In no sense do they represent a standard of care. The applicability of an indicator for a procedure, and/or of the process or outcome criteria, must be determined by the responsible physician in light of all the circumstances presented by the individual patient. Adherence to these guidelines will not ensure successful treatment in every situation. The AAO-HNS emphasizes that these policies should not be deemed inclusive of all proper treatment decisions or methods of care, nor exclusive of other treatment decisions or methods of care reasonably directed to obtaining the same results.