Cholesteatoma is a soft-looking, compressible mass mainly associated with hypoacusis. Its diagnosis is made by otoscopy, but if the physical examination is not conclusive, radiological studies should be performed. Its presentation is infrequent; thus, the incidence of acquired cholesteatoma per year in Colombia is 3/100000 children and 9.2/100000 adults. It is important in the evaluations that each health personnel can recognize it and refer it, allowing early surgical intervention to avoid invasive clinical pictures that can increase the possibility of complications. Our objective was to describe the importance of cholesteatoma with its clinical implications in different patients with auditory pathology, which allows to understand the importance of timely diagnosis. A literature search was performed in PubMed and Scielo databases, oriented towards updated and relevant articles in Englis...