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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Electrically Evoked Stapedius Reflex Measurements in Cochlear Implantation and Its Application in the Postoperative Fitting Process
Published on: June 21, 2024
Multi-electrode sequential versus single electrode stimulation to elicit the stapedial reflex during cochlear
M Guida1, M Falcioni1, F Di Lella1
1Audiology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, U.O.C. Otorinolaringoiatria e Otoneurochirurgia, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma, Italy.
Objectives:
To assess whether electrical stimulation sequentially delivered through 4 electrodes located in different cochlear areas may elicit the stapedial reflex at lower levels compared to single electrode stimulation and to correlate the sequentially obtained values with the maximum comfort level (C-level).
Patients And Methods:
A retrospective study was performed on 35 post-verbal adult patients (age 19-80 years) consecutively implanted in 2 cochlear implant centers, evaluating the level of stimulation (pulse width) necessary to electrically evoke the stapedial reflex with two different stimulation modalities: single electrode versus sequential 4 electrode stimulation. Threshold values were compared with C-level obtained at activation.
Results:
The average differences of pulse width and C-level were significantly smaller (P<0.0001) when the stapedial reflex was obtained with the sequential stimulation modality and reached statistical significance for every single electrode (P<0.0001).
Conclusions:
Stapedial reflex thresholds obtained with sequential stimulation through 4 different electrodes significantly correlate to the C-level obtained at the first setting and may be helpful in defining the upper limit of the dynamic field during initial CI mapping.
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