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Sudden hearing loss: an effectivity comparison of intratympanic and systemic steroid treatments

  • Otology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Corticosteroid treatment has been considered the most effective treatment modality for sudden sensorineural hearing loss so far. Application route of corticosteroids may vary. We have designed a prospective randomized case-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the effectivenesses of the different application routes of steroids in the treatment of SSHL. Thirty-five patients were distributed randomly to two groups which were treated with either ‘oral’ or ‘intratympanic’ corticosteroids. Intratympanic steroid administration was performed three times every other day transtympanically. At the end of third month, recovery rate in the ‘intratympanic’ group was 84.2%, whereas in the ‘oral’ group, it was 87.5%. The difference between the recovery rates was not statistically significant. There were no major complications related to transtympanic steroid administration. These findings support that intratympanic steroid therapy is an alternative to systemic steroid therapy in the initial treatment of sudden hearing loss. In addition, transtympanic technique is an easy to perform and safe method for delivering steroids into the inner ear.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Gülce Ermutlu, Nilda Süslü & Taner Yılmaz

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Koc University Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

    Sarp Saraç

  3. Kağıthane Devlet Hastanesi, Sanayi Mahallesi Sultan Selim Caddesi, Şahinler Sokak No:23 Kağıthane, İstanbul, Turkey

    Gülce Ermutlu

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  1. Gülce Ermutlu
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  2. Nilda Süslü
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  3. Taner Yılmaz
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  4. Sarp Saraç
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Correspondence to Gülce Ermutlu.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Ermutlu, G., Süslü, N., Yılmaz, T. et al. Sudden hearing loss: an effectivity comparison of intratympanic and systemic steroid treatments. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 274, 3585–3591 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4691-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4691-8

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