Intratympanic Dexamethasone in the Treatment of Acute Low-Frequency Hearing Loss / 听力学及言语疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the efficacy of intratympanic dexamethasone injection in treating acute low-frequency hearing loss(ALHL).Methods Thirty-seven ALHL cases not responsive to intravenous dexamethasone and vasodilator medications were enrolled in the study and divided into two groups.In the treatment group,dexamethasone was injected intratympanically once per day to 18 cases for a seven-day history with unilateral ALHL and 1 case with bilateral ALHL.In the control group,18 cases with unilateral ALHL were given intravenous vasodilator medications for 7 days.All patients were followed up for 1～ 2 years.Results In the treatment group with unilateral ALHL,8 cases achieved complete recovery,7 cases achieved partial recovery and no change was observed in the other 3 cases.The efficiency was 83.3 %.2 cases showed recurrent low-frequency hearing loss during the follow-up period.One case with bilateral ALHL did not respond to the treatment and no recurrence was observed.No side effect was observed in the study.In the control group,3 cases completely recovered,5 cases partially recovered and 10 cases showed no improvement.The efficiency was 44.4%.5 cases recurred and one of them progressed to Meniere's disease.There was a statistically significant difference in efficiency of patients with unilateral ALHL between two groups(P＜0.05).Conclusion Intratympanic dexamethasone application was an effective and safe treatment option for ALHL.