Audiometric and Surgical Outcomes of a Novel Bone-Conduction Hearing Aid

To report the audiometric and surgical outcomes of a series of patients having undergone implantation of a novel transcutaneous bone conduction implant (t-BCI).

Retrospective case series.

Single academic tertiary referral center.

Adults (≥18 yr) implanted between December 1, 2019, and August 1, 2021, with audiometric data available before and after device implantation and a minimum of 4 weeks follow-up.

Surgical t-BCI.

Change in aided pure tone average (PTA) after implantation. Secondary outcomes include average operative time, and adverse events.

Twenty-three patients underwent implantation of the t-BCI via either a conventional or minimally invasive surgical approach. The most common indication for implantation was unilateral conductive hearing loss with a history of chronic otitis media. The mean operative time was 59 minutes. The mean preimplantation unaided air conduction PTA was 65 dB, and mean postimplantation was 27.2 dB. The mean change in PTA was 37.8 dB, which was significant ( p < 0.0001). There were 30.4% of the patients that suffered from adverse events, the most common of which were pain (8.7%) and device-related complications (13%). One major adverse event occurred, involving magnet displacement that impaired device activation and required reoperation for replacement.

Forming the largest series of patients implanted with this t-BCI in the published literature, our data demonstrate that implantation of the device is feasible via either a traditional or minimally invasive surgical approach, with good audiometric benefit and a favorable safety profile.