Intra-cochlear Flushing Reduces Tissue Response to Cochlear Implantation

Area of Science:

• Oto-neurology
• Surgical Innovation
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Intraoperative bleeding during cochlear implantation can harm residual hearing.
• Current clinical practices lack protocols for intra-cochlear blood removal.
• Blood in the cochlea can cause inflammation and fibrosis, impacting cochlear health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of an intra-cochlear flushing protocol for blood removal.
• To assess the impact of blood removal on auditory function and cochlear tissue response.
• To evaluate the potential for a new clinical protocol in cochlear implantation.

Main Methods:

• A preclinical study involving guinea pigs with cochlear implants.
• Three groups were used: control (implant only), blood injection, and blood injection with intraoperative flushing.
• Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and tissue response volumes were analyzed over 28 days.

Main Results:

• The blood group showed significantly higher ABR thresholds, especially at high frequencies.
• The flush group exhibited the lowest ABR thresholds, significantly better at 24 kHz.
• The flush group demonstrated reduced tissue response in the basal cochlear region.

Conclusions:

• Intra-cochlear flushing effectively removes blood, improving auditory function post-implantation.
• This protocol significantly reduces fibrosis in the basal cochlea.
• Findings support the clinical implementation of an intra-cochlear flushing protocol during cochlear implantation.