Therapy of hearing disorders - conservative procedures

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Pharmacology
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Hearing disorders encompass a broad spectrum of conditions requiring diverse therapeutic strategies.
• Current treatments include pharmaceutical, acoustic, electrical, surgical, radiological, and cognitive-behavioral approaches.
• Inner ear disorders present unique challenges, necessitating specialized therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review general conservative strategies and specific therapeutic approaches for hearing disorders, with a focus on inner ear conditions.
• To discuss systemic and local drug delivery methods for inner ear disorders.
• To critically analyze existing clinical studies and draw conclusions for future therapeutic interventions.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of conservative therapeutic strategies for hearing disorders.
• Focus on pharmaceutical interventions, including systemic and local drug delivery to the inner ear.
• Critical analysis of published clinical studies, emphasizing randomized controlled trials.

Main Results:

• A discrepancy exists between promising preclinical findings (e.g., stem cell therapy) and the limited high-evidence clinical trials in humans.
• Systemic medication-based therapies are discussed alongside the emerging field of local drug delivery to the inner ear.
• Non-drug-based procedures and conservative therapies for specific diseases and syndromes are reviewed.

Conclusions:

• There is a significant gap between experimental research and robust clinical evidence for many hearing disorder treatments.
• Further high-quality clinical trials are needed to validate the effectiveness of pharmaceutical and regenerative therapies.
• Critical analysis of current evidence is essential to guide future therapeutic strategies for hearing disorders.