Hyperbaric Oxygenation as Adjunctive Therapy in the Treatment of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss seems to become a serious social health problem in modern societies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, adult-onset sensorineural hearing loss is found to be one of the leading diseases at the global level, especially in high-income countries, and is foreseen to move up from the 14th to 7th leading cause of the global burden of diseases by the year 2030. Although the direct mortality rate of this disease is very low, its influence on quality of life is huge; that is the reason why the implementation of the most effective and the safest therapies for the patient is crucial for minimizing the risk of complications and adverse reactions to treatment. The aim of this paper is to present hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as a medical procedure useful in the treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss as adjunctive therapy of high efficacy. This paper focuses on the molecular mechanisms of action and clinical effectiveness of HBOT in the treatment of idiopathic sudden deafness, taking into consideration both the benefits and potential risks of its implementation.