Effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in idiopathic sudden hearing loss

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) by comparing hearing gain and improvement rate in patients who have been placed on both HBO and medical treatment (MT) (37 patients), and patients who have received MT only (17 patients). Both groups were compared with reference to pure tone average (PTA) and the number of patients who experienced hearing gain. Of 37 patients (40 ears) who received HBO + MT, 24 (60 per cent) experienced > or = 10 decibels (dB) improvement in PTA compared to 13 (76.4 per cent) of 17 patients who were placed on MT only. Inter- or intra-group comparison of age stratification (< 50 and > or = 50 ages) did not produce significant differences in PTA and in the number of patients who experienced hearing gain. Although there are numerous studies showing efficacy of HBO therapy; this study did not reveal a trend in favour of HBO therapy.