Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2002 Dec;45(12):1136-1140.

The Effect of Intratympanic Steroid Injection for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

• Park YS
• Jeon EJ
• Yeo SW
• Park SN
• Park JW
• Kim KB

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Intratympanic injection is used for treatment of various inner ear diseases. We studied the effect of intratympanic steroid injection for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). MATERIALS AND METHOD: We carried out a retrospective review of 40 patients with SSNHL with oral steroid therapy and 32 patients with SSNHL with intratympanic steroid injection. Intratympanic steroid injection was performed with tuberculin syringe with a 25-gauge spinal needle under local anesthesia. Hearing was assessed immediately before therapy and at 3 weeks after therapy.
RESULTS
Hearing improvement was documented in 25 of 40 patients (62.5%) in the oral steroid therapy group and 21 of 32 patients (65.6%) in the intratympanic steroid therapy group.
CONCLUSION
Intratympanic steroid injection was a safe and effective treatment method for SSNHL. This method may be another treatment modality for patients with SSNHL ; moreover, it is a prior treatment method for patients with systemic disease such as diabetes mellitus or hypertension.

Keyword

Steroids; Middle ear; Deafness; Sudden

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia, Local
Deafness
Diabetes Mellitus
Ear, Middle
Hearing
Hearing Loss, Sensorineural*
Humans
Hypertension
Labyrinth Diseases
Needles
Retrospective Studies
Steroids
Syringes
Tuberculin
Steroids
Tuberculin