Treatment of Hearing Gain in Failed Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of intratympanic steroid injection on patients with a history of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) and failure of steroid therapy compared with patients who receive second oral steroids alone.

Method: Retrospective review of 70 patients with a history of ISSNHL and failure of hearing gain who receive intratympanic steroid injection or oral steroid as a second treatment modality.

Results: Seventy patients met inclusion criteria and were included in the study. The number of patients with improvement in pure tone average in the injection group was 12 (33%) compared with 6 (18%) in the oral group. Fifteen (41.7%) of the injected patients did have improvement in speech discrimination scores of greater than 15% compared with only 4 (11.8%) in the oral group.

Conclusion: Patients with ISSNHL who have failed oral steroid therapy can obtain better hearing results with intratympanic steroids injection in comparison to oral steroids.