Transient evoked and distortion product otoacoustic emissions in traumatic brain injury

Behavioral audiometry may be of limited value for those patients who have incurred significant brain injury and remain unresponsive to auditory stimuli. Even the more "objective" tests such as auditory brainstem response (ABR) and acoustic reflex testing may be inadequate tools to assess peripheral auditory function when significant brainstem injury has occurred. Determination of peripheral hearing becomes important because rehabilitation strategies are anchored to the knowledge of sensory function prior to implementing appropriate plans of intervention. We present the usefulness of otoacoustic emission (OAE) testing to further evaluate the cochlear function in a patient with traumatic brain injury who was subsequently inconsistent in response to sound.