[A prospective controlled study on the proper time of intratympanic steroid for profound sudden sensorineural hearing...

Objective: To investigate the proper time of intratympanic steroid as combination therapy in treatment of patients with profound sudden sensorineural hearing loss(SSNHL) of total frequency type. Methods: This prospective study included 50 patients with SSNHL in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from June 2017 to February 2018.All these patients had profound hearing loss averaged more than 81 dB at all frequencies (250-8 000 Hz). They were divided into two groups.The patients in group A were treated with simultaneous oral prednisone (1 mg/kg, qd) and intratympanic methylprednisolone (40 mg, qd) for 5 days.The patients in group B were treated with oral prednisone for 5 days as in group A, and then those who had no significant improvement were subsequently treated with intratympanic methylprednisolone (40 mg, qd)for further 5 days.All patients were treated with additional intravenous batroxobin and ginkgo biloba leaves extract.Following examination of pure tone audiogram, hearing gains and effective rates were statistically analyzed in both groups with SPSS software package(version 20.0). Results: Hearings in both groups were improved significantly after treatment.In group A(20 cases), hearing gain was (29.2±22.7) dB and total effective rate was 65.0%, while in group B(22 cases), they were (27.3±22) dB and 68.2% respectively.There were no significant differences in hearing gain and recovery rate between two groups (hearing gain, P=0.793; total effective rate, P=0.827). Conclusions: For patients with profound SSNHL of total frequency type, the efficacies of intratympanic steroid as simultaneous and subsequent therapy are equivalent. Therefore, subsequent intratympanic glucocorticoid is recommended for SSNHL patient of total frequency type to reduce complications and medical expenses.