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Updated: Jun 17, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancements in Impedance Monitoring for Cochlear Implant Surgery
Published on: August 4, 2023
Complications of cochlear implantation: a decade's experience
Badr Eldin Mostafa1, Lobna El Fiky2
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ain-Sham,s University, 75 El Nozha Street 11351, Heliopolis-Cairo, Egypt. bemostafa@med.asu.edu.eg.
Purpose:
Surgery for cochlear implantation is becoming increasingly common. It is a precise surgery and carries with it a number of very specific complications. Although uncommon, they can profoundly affect the recipients' quality of life. We report on our patients' population and compare with different series.
Methods:
This is a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent cochlear implant surgery in our center or who were referred for management of complications between November 2012 and November 2022.
Results:
There were 2126 patients aged 9 months-68 years [mean 3.2 yrs] with 147 adults > 18 yrs. The male: female ratio was nearly 1. We are reporting on late complications excluding device failures. There were 186 complications [8.7%], 124 minor complications [66% of the complications, 5.8% of the total population; and 62 major complications [ 33% of the complications and 2.9% of the total]. The commonest minor complication was surgical site infection [16%] and the commonest major complication was flap necrosis and device extrusion [26%].
Conclusion:
Complications in our series were comparable to other series from different locations. But there seems to be a difference in the frequency of each complication depending on many factors which must be addressed. Standardization of reporting should be also more homogenized.
