Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
J Altern Complement Med. 2010 Sep;16(9):973-8. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0542.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acupuncture on the treatment of refractory sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), treatment of which remains a major clinical challenge.
The study design was descriptive research to document the effect of acupuncture in a series of SSHL cases.
The study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of Kyung Hee University Hospital.
The subjects analyzed were 17 patients with refractory SSHL of more than 3 weeks after a failed trial of conventional treatment including corticosteroids.
Acupuncture sessions were performed twice a week using a modified Saam acupuncture formula and such acupoints as GV14, GV15, and others, in addition to usual patient care educations.
Improvement was defined as increased hearing threshold from initial measurement by more than 20 dB in at least two contiguous frequencies of audiometric testing. An audiogram pattern was also analyzed.
The average refractory period before acupuncture treatment was 213.9 days (range 22-1460). First follow-up measurement after 9.5 times of acupuncture treatment for 29.9 days showed improvement in 4 of 16 cases examined (25.0%) and second follow-up measurement after 18.7 times of acupuncture treatment for 70.4 days in another 4 of 12 cases examined (33.3%). A total improvement rate after day 70.4 post initial visit was 47.1% (8 of 17 cases). As to the audiogram pattern, an ascending or midhumping pattern was related to a good prognosis, while a descending pattern was not.
These findings suggest that acupuncture might be effective in refractory sensorineural hearing loss with failure of conventional therapy.
本研究旨在探讨针刺治疗难治性感音神经性听力损失（SSHL）的效果，该病的治疗仍是一大临床挑战。
本研究为描述性研究，旨在记录一系列 SSHL 病例中针刺的疗效。
研究在庆熙大学医院的门诊进行。
分析对象为 17 例常规治疗（包括皮质类固醇）失败后超过 3 周的难治性 SSHL 患者。
针刺治疗每周进行 2 次，采用改良的 Saam 针刺配方和 GV14、GV15 等穴位，并进行常规的患者教育。
听力改善定义为听力学测试中至少两个连续频率的听力阈值较初始测量值提高 20dB 以上。还分析了听力图模式。
针刺治疗前的平均难治期为 213.9 天（范围 22-1460）。针刺治疗 29.9 天 9.5 次后的首次随访测量显示，16 例中有 4 例（25.0%）得到改善，针刺治疗 70.4 天 18.7 次后的第二次随访测量显示，12 例中有 4 例（33.3%）得到改善。初始就诊后第 70.4 天的总改善率为 47.1%（17 例中的 8 例）。就听力图模式而言，上升或中峰模式与良好预后相关，而下降模式则不然。
这些发现表明，对于常规治疗失败的难治性感音神经性听力损失，针刺可能有效。
