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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
[Objective audiologic assessment of children treated with amikacin]
1Fül-orr-gége és bronchológiai Osztály, FP6árosi Onkormányzat Heim Pál Gyermekkórház, Budapest.
Insights
Amikacin treatment for urinary tract infections in children did not cause hearing loss when monitored closely. Objective hearing tests like TEOAE are valuable for screening and monitoring children receiving this antibiotic.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Pharmacology
- Audiology
Background:
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in children.
- Amikacin is an antibiotic used to treat UTIs.
- Potential ototoxicity of amikacin necessitates careful monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the ototoxic potential of amikacin in pediatric patients with UTIs.
- To assess the efficacy of objective hearing assessment methods for detecting amikacin-induced hearing loss.
Main Methods:
- Hearing screening in 14 children treated with amikacin (7.5 mg/kg/day for 10 days, serum levels <35 mcg/ml).
- Transient otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) testing during and after therapy (2-4 weeks).
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) audiometry used for verification if TEOAEs were absent.
Main Results:
- No hearing loss was detected in any of the children assessed.
- TEOAE screening proved effective in identifying children with normal hearing.
- ABR confirmed normal hearing in cases where TEOAEs were not evoked.
Conclusions:
- Amikacin, when administered at appropriate dosages and with serum level monitoring, does not appear to cause hearing loss in children.
- Objective hearing assessment methods, such as TEOAE, are reliable tools for screening and monitoring hearing in pediatric populations receiving amikacin.
Abstract:
Hearing assessment of 14 children suffered from urinary tract infection and treated by amikacin is reported. The dosage of amikacin was 7.5 mg/kg/daily for 10 days and the serum level of amikacin not exceeded the 35 mcg/ml. The aim of the study was on the one hand to determine the hearing damaging side effect of amikacin and on the other to assess the usefulness of objective methods for detection of hearing loss in this population. Authors used for screening a transient otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) during and after (2-4 weeks) therapy. If subjective and objective (TEOAE) methods gave a good result, no further checkup has considered as necessary, but if there were no evoked emission, acoustic brainstem response audiometry has been carried out for verification. It result no hearing loss could be detected in the measured specimen. In conclusion it has been stated that by proper dosage and serum level screening amikacin may no lead to hearing loss in children, and objective methods are valuable for hearing screening and monitoring of such population of children.
