Efficacy of Defibrinogenation Therapy for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a perplexing medical condition characterized by rapid hearing decline, often accompanied by symptoms such as tinnitus and vertigo. Effectiveness of batroxobin treatment is not clearly known.

To systematically review and meta-synthesize the effectiveness of Batroxobin treatment on SSNHL.

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from the inception date through October 31, 2025. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients with a clinical diagnosis of SSNHL, (2) interventions included prescription of defibrinogenation therapy (DT), such as venombin A, ancrod, and/or batroxobin, and (3) comparisons were controls who did not receive DT. Two researchers independently reviewed the literature according to the PRISMA guideline. The outcomes were improvement for proportional rate, and the effect size was measured using odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

A total of 7 studies with 837 participants (i.e., 561 in the treatment group and 276 controls) were included in the final meta-analysis. DT was not statistically significant for improving hearing when compared to controls. Although the overall SSNHL improvement between DT and control groups improved, the overall effect size, as measured by the pooled OR, 1.897 (95% CI, 0.84 to 4.27), was not statistically significant. The pooled improvement rate for overall SSNHL without a comparison group was 62.1% (95% CI, 55.7% to 68.5%).

The findings suggest that defibrinogenation treatment is not more effective than other treatments for SSNHL.