[Effect of sedation on otoacoustic emissions]

Even though the measurement of transitory evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) is easy and without problems in babies, sedation might be necessary in children aged between 1 and 4 years. As only very little information is available on the influence of a sedation on the TEOAE, the present study was performed. 35 normal hearing patients who were treated with benzodiazepines as a premedication for an operation were included in the investigation. 15 patients received diazepam and 20 were given flunitrazepam in a dosage of 10 and 1 mg respectively. The TEOAE were measured using the ILO 88 system by Bray and Kemp 1 day before, 1 hour after and 3 days after drug intake. 10 additional subjects of whom measurements were taken at the same time intervals served as controls. No statistically significant changes could be detected before and after drug treatment in respect of amplitudes of the TEOAE and frequency of maximum amplitudes. Hence, we conclude that sedation as used in this study must be considered negligible when measuring TEOAE.