Hearing Preservation Rates After Cochlear Implantation Using Soft Surgery Techniques

To determine if hearing preservation rates after cochlear implantation varied over time with soft surgery techniques.

The hearing preservation rate over time in adult cochlear implant patients over 10 years was analyzed. The association between hearing preservation rate and sex, age, perioperative steroid dose, and type of electrode was analyzed. Low frequency hearing preservation was analyzed separately.

There was no statistical difference with sex, age, or type of electrode. There was a statistically significant improvement in hearing preservation with a higher dose of perioperative steroid on univariate analysis (36.4% vs. 15%). There was a small but significant correlation (r = 0.22) between improved rate and later year of implantation. However, no statistically significant correlation was identified for any factor on multivariate analysis. Date of surgery and steroid dose were correlated and, when the correlation was modeled, there was still no correlation with hearing preservation. For low frequency hearing preservation, a higher dose of perioperative steroids and time were also found to be significant on univariate analysis (33% vs. 14.8%). Multivariate analysis did not show significance for any factor, but the date of surgery and steroid dose were noted to be correlated. Model based on the correlation showed that date of surgery and steroid dose were significantly correlated with hearing preservation (r = 0.21).

There was a small but significant correlation between the hearing preservation rate over time with the use of soft surgery techniques including a significant difference with the use of a higher steroid dose.