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[Vestibular toxicity of gentamycin in newborn infants]
1Universitäts-HNO-Klinik Würzburg.
Insights
Gentamicin, an antibiotic for serious infections, does not appear to cause balance problems (vestibulotoxicity) in newborns when used at therapeutic doses. This study found no significant differences in vestibular function between treated newborns and a control group.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Ototoxicology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Gentamicin is a critical antibiotic for treating severe infections in newborns.
- Concerns exist regarding its potential ototoxic and vestibulotoxic effects, particularly in this vulnerable population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the vestibulotoxic potential of gentamicin when administered at therapeutic levels in newborns.
- To compare vestibular function in newborns treated with gentamicin versus a healthy control group.
Main Methods:
- Electronystagmography was used to record horizontal and vertical eye movements.
- Vestibular function was assessed using sinusoidal rotation in darkness.
- The study included 30 newborns treated with gentamicin and 30 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant differences in nystagmus reactions were observed between the gentamicin-treated group and the control group during rotational stimulation.
- Spontaneous eye movements did not increase in either group, indicating no acute vestibular disturbance.
Conclusions:
- Therapeutic doses of gentamicin in newborns do not appear to induce significant vestibulotoxicity.
- Gentamicin demonstrates a potentially lower ototoxic risk in newborns compared to older children or adults when used under controlled therapeutic conditions.
Background:
Gentamicin known as ototoxic drug is routinely used for treatment of vital infections in neonatologic departments. The aim of the present study is to clarify whether gentamicin has a vestibulotoxic effect when used in therapeutic levels in the newborn phase.
Method:
Children were taken on the knees of the mother or relative sitting on an electronically driven rotating chair. The rotatory stimulation consisted of an undamped sinusoidal stimulus pattern which was performed in total darkness. Horizontal and vertical eye movements were recorded electronystagmographically.
Patients:
The patient group consisted of 30 children aged between 3.1 and 32.9 months. These children had been treated with gentamicin during the newborn period. A group of 30 healthy children of similar age without gentamicin treatment was the control group.
Results:
The statistical means of the nystagmus reactions during sinusoidal rotation were similar in both groups. No increase of spontaneous eye movements was seen in the patients or in the control group.
Conclusions:
Gentamicin is an important antibiotic for treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases, which acts less ototoxically in controlled therapeutic doses in newborns than in later childhood or in adults.