Sensorineural hearing loss in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVES

Sensorineural hearing loss as an extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease has been reported in several studies, including adult patients. The aim of this study is to determine the presence of subclinical sensorineural hearing loss associated with inflammatory bowel disease in pediatric patients.

METHODS

Otoscopy, tympanometry, and pure tone audiometry were performed in 24 patients with disease and 20 healthy age- and sex-matched controls.

RESULTS

Pure tone audiometry did not show significant sensorineural hearing loss over all frequencies in patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared with controls (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Subclinical sensorineural hearing loss was demonstrated in adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease; therefore we recommend performing audiometric examinations in pediatric patients to recognize hearing loss early during the course of the disease.