What Researchers Did
Researchers conducted a literature survey to compare hyperbaric oxygen therapy with conventional, placebo, or no treatment for idiopathic sudden hearing loss, acoustic trauma, noise-induced hearing loss, and tinnitus.
What They Found
The survey found that 65% of polypragmatically treated patients experienced a 19 ± 4 dB hearing improvement, similar to placebo-treated patients where 61% saw a 20 ± 2 dB gain. Placebo therapy was deemed equally effective as nonsteroidal drugs, with 31-38% of placebo-treated patients achieving normal hearing compared to 50-78% in verum-treated groups.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Canadian patients experiencing sudden hearing loss might find that conventional nonsteroidal drug treatments offer similar benefits to placebo, suggesting a need for careful consideration of treatment options. For those unresponsive to initial therapies, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is suggested as a potential alternative.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
A significant limitation was the difficulty in comparing non-treated patients due to widely varying reported spontaneous remission rates ranging from 25-68% for full remissions.