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Binaural squelch effect in unilateral otosclerosis surgery: comparison of speech intelligibility in noise before-after surgery

  • Otology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to evaluate the speech intelligibility benefit in noise provided by stapedotomy in the treatment of unilateral otosclerosis.

Methods

We enrolled adults suffering from unilateral conductive hearing loss and followed them up until 9 months after surgery. The patients underwent a free field speech hearing evaluation using the French Matrix test before and after stapedotomy. Speech material was sent to the front of the patients (S0) and noise was presented either at the front (N0), or at the operated ear (N-90) or at the non-operated ear (N + 90). The speech intelligibility benefit in noise was assessed by comparing Squelch effect (SE), Head shadow effect (HS) and Binaural redundancy (BR) before and after surgery. SE was measured as the difference in speech reception thresholds (SRT) between S0N + 90 situations before and after surgery, HS as the difference in SRT between S0N + 90 and S0N-90 situations, and BR as the difference in SRT between S0N0 situations before and after surgery. In addition, two quality of life’s questionnaires were completed by patients to evaluate their discomfort.

Results

Among 25 patients, 19 were followed up during 9 months, 4 were excluded and 2 were lost for the following-up. Stapedotomy provided a restoration of SE of 3.7 dB SNR (p < 0.001) and a BR gain of 1.8 dB SNR (p < 0.001). HS did not show any statistical variation after surgery (p = 0.077). Finally, the questionnaires showed a residual hearing discomfort.

Conclusion

Stapedotomy provided a binaural benefit with the restoration of the SE and BR but which remained lower than in the normal-hearing population.

Trial Registration

The 07/02/2018 on Clinical.Trial.Gouv: NCT03587792.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alison Foote Ph.D. (Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, France) and Ihab Atallah MD, Ph.D. for English editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, 38000, Grenoble, France

    Ashley Baguant, Sebastien Schmerber & Raphaële Quatre

  2. Brain Tech Lab Inserm, UMR 1205, 38000, Grenoble, France

    Sebastien Schmerber

  3. Val de Sambre Clinic, 162 Route de Mons, 59600, Maubeuge, France

    Kamalkishore Baguant

  4. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, 38700, La Tronche, France

    Ashley Baguant

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  1. Ashley Baguant
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  2. Sebastien Schmerber
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  4. Raphaële Quatre
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Correspondence to Ashley Baguant.

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Ethics approval

ID CRB number 2017-A02900-53. The protocol was approved by a regional Ethics Committee (reference n° 17 12 01).

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All patients gave their oral and written consent kept in the department that conducted the study.

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All the data are kept and are available in the department where the study was conducted.

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Baguant, A., Schmerber, S., Baguant, K. et al. Binaural squelch effect in unilateral otosclerosis surgery: comparison of speech intelligibility in noise before-after surgery. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 279, 1301–1310 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-06797-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-021-06797-3

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