Comparison of Treatment Outcomes between Intratympanic Steroid Injection and Oral Diuretics in Patients with Acute Low Frequency Sensorineural Hearing Loss with Vertigo

An, Yong Hwi; Shim, Hyun Joon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss and Meniere disease can be managed with intratympanic steroid injection (ITSI) as a primary treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of ITSI versus oral diuretics for acute low frequency sensorineural hearing loss (LFHL) with vertigo.
METHODS
A total 76 patients with LFHL that had developed within previous 2 weeks were enrolled and categorized into 2 groups: treated with ITSI four times on 4 consecutive days (ITSI group; 42 patients) and treated with diuretics orally for 2 weeks (diuretics group; 34 patients). After 6 months, we analyzed treatment outcomes using subjective improvement and audiometric change.
RESULTS
Hearing thresholds at low frequencies â‰¤500 Hz were significantly improved in both ITSI and diuretics group (p<0.05). The cure rate of ITSI group was not significantly higher than that of diuretics group (54.8% vs. 52.9%, p>0.05). For subjective symptoms, there were no significant differences of improvement rate in both groups (ITSI 64.3% vs. diuretics 61.8%, p>0.05). In pure tone audiometry, the improvement rate of ITSI group was not significantly different from that of diuretics group (78.6% vs. 70.6%, p>0.05). There was a significant correlation between the cure rate and duration of symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS
Both ITSI and diuretics are effective treatment modalities for acute LFHL with vertigo within 2 weeks of development. There is no difference of treatment outcomes between ITSI and diuretics in patients with acute LFHL and vertigo.