[Treatment of sudden hearing loss as a clinical problem (author's transl)]

From the methods used in treatment of sudden hearing loss, certain measures have been found to be best for the improvement of microcirculation disturbances in the inner ear, as based on antisludge effects. The effectiveness of drugs such as dextran infusion, procaine, xanthinol nicotinate, beta-pyridylcarbinol and heparin cannot be compared, nor can techniques such as stellate block, ATP-infusions, and pure vasodilators (Betaserc). Analysis of oxygen inhalations have thus far been incomplete. In the following analysis, we compared the results of therapy following stellate block in 50 patients with those obtained after dextran-papaverine infusions in 16 hospitalized patients. Prior to treatment, patient parameters (including average hearing loss and time-factor) were made uniform so that further statistical comparison was possible. In the group of patients treated with stellate block, we found an average hearing improvement to be about 23 dB (as based on analysis of single frequencies at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 kHz). In the group of patients treated with dextran infusions, an average hearing improvement of 18 dB was found. Statistical analysis did not indicate any significant effect differences between either treatment method. Taking other information from the literature into consideration, we may establish that the maximum hearing improvement which can be reached with the discussed treatment methods to be about 20--30 dB.