Dexamethasone eardrop with grommet placement vs intratympanic steroid injection for sudden sensorineural hearing loss: A randomized prospective clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to compare different means of intratympanic steroid delivery in the treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

DESIGN

Prospective, multicentered, randomized controlled trial.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Fifty-six patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss who failed or were contraindicated for oral steroids were included in this study. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups according to delivery methods: group A received 4 sections of intratympanic dexamethasone injection and group B received grommet placement with dexamethasone delivery followed by 3 sections of dexamethasone ear drop application. Self-administered paper-based questionnaires were filled out to measure subjective pain scores, vertigo, anxiety, and overall satisfaction immediately after each procedure. Hearing threshold was measured with pure tone audiogram in the follow-up.

RESULTS

There was no statistical significance detected in hearing threshold improvement between both groups (P = 0.30). Grommet placement followed by dexamethasone eardrop application demonstrated a significant difference in shorter waiting time (24 min in grommet group vs 52 min in injection group; P < 0.01); and better overall satisfaction (1.6 in grommet group vs 2.5 in injection group; P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Grommet placement followed by dexamethasone eardrop application is a good alternative for a patient indicated for intratympanic steroid, with less administrative cost, shorter waiting time, and more satisfaction.