What Researchers Did
Researchers looked back at records from patients whose sudden hearing loss had not fully improved after standard steroid treatment, to see how adding intratympanic steroid injections or hyperbaric oxygen therapy affected their hearing recovery.
What They Found
This retrospective study followed 62 patients who had not recovered after initial systemic steroid treatment and were split into three groups: steroids alone (34 patients, 54.8%), steroids plus hyperbaric oxygen therapy (16 patients, 25.8%), and steroids plus intratympanic steroids (12 patients, 19.4%). The proportion of patients who responded to treatment was actually higher in the steroids-alone group (29.4%) than in the hyperbaric oxygen group (18.75%) or the intratympanic steroid group (16.7%). The study found no statistically significant difference between the three groups in average hearing gain measured three months after the salvage treatment began.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For patients whose hearing loss does not improve with initial steroid treatment, this study did not find that adding hyperbaric oxygen therapy or intratympanic steroids produced a statistically meaningful improvement in hearing gain compared to continuing steroids alone. The response rate was numerically lower in the groups that received these salvage treatments. Patients considering salvage options for sudden hearing loss should discuss this evidence gap with their treating physician.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This was a retrospective, non-randomized study with small and unequal group sizes (12 to 34 patients per group) from a single hospital, which limits the ability to draw firm conclusions about the effectiveness of either salvage treatment.