Podcast 614: Perichondritis

<p><strong>Contributor: Nick Tsipis, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perichondritis involves infection of not only the connective tissue of the ear but typically the cartilage as well</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Symptoms include erythema, ear pain, and fevers</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most common bacterial cause is Pseudomonas.</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perichondritis often occurs after a wound or piercing, but trauma is not necessary for the infection to occur</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anti-pseudomonal coverage is essential with typically oral agents for milder disease and IV antibiotics for severe infections</span></li> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can have devastating outcomes if not treated aggressively and/or treated early due to poor blood supply to the cartilage of the ear</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Prasad HK, Sreedharan S, Prasad HS, Meyyappan MH, Harsha KS.</span> <a href= "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17319983/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Perichondritis of the auricle and its management.</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">J Laryngol Otol. 2007 Jun;121(6):530-4. doi: 10.1017/S0022215107005877. Epub 2007 Feb 26. PMID: 17319983.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Summarized by Jackson Roos, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD</span></em></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">AMA PRA Category 1 credits™</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our website at</span> <a href= "http://www.emergencymedicalminute.com/cme-courses"><span style= "