Lee Che-Jui, Chen Hsin-Chien, Shih Cheng-Ping, Lin Yuan-Yung, Kuo Chao-Yin, Liu Shao-Cheng
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
J Altern Complement Med. 2021 Jul;27(7):588-595. doi: 10.1089/acm.2020.0330. Epub 2021 May 4.
Acupuncture, widely used in Chinese society, has been studied as an adjunct treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of combined acupuncture and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) with conventional steroid therapy for ISSNHL. This retrospective chart review enrolled 154 patients who met the ISSNHL criteria and were categorized into three groups according to the different treatment regimens. Among these patients, 43 underwent steroid therapy only (S) group, 74 received steroid and HBOT (S-H) group, and the remaining 37 were treated with combined acupuncture-HBOT in addition to steroid therapy (S-H-A) group. The outcome was determined by comparing the differences in pure-tone thresholds and absolute hearing gains after treatment calculated at each audiometric octave frequency or grouped frequencies of audiograms. Hearing recoveries classified into three grades: complete, partial, and poor were also analyzed and compared among different treatment groups. All subjects presented with initial severe hearing loss with averaged hearing thresholds >70 dB. The S-H-A group exhibited good hearing improvement outcomes at each audiometric octave frequency and grouped frequencies of audiograms, with greater hearing gain and had more favorable outcomes in hearing recovery grades compared with the S group and the S-H group. The results obtained in this study revealed a preliminary finding of ISSNHL patients benefiting from combined acupuncture, HBOT, and conventional steroid therapy. Acupuncture is a safe and nonpharmacologic treatment option and can be considered as an initial treatment strategy in such a clinical scenario.
针灸在中国社会广泛应用，已被作为特发性突发性感音神经性听力损失（ISSNHL）的辅助治疗方法进行研究。本研究的目的是探讨针灸联合高压氧治疗（HBOT）与传统类固醇疗法治疗ISSNHL的有效性。这项回顾性图表审查纳入了154例符合ISSNHL标准的患者，并根据不同的治疗方案将其分为三组。在这些患者中，43例仅接受类固醇治疗（S组），74例接受类固醇和高压氧治疗（S-H组），其余37例在接受类固醇治疗的基础上联合针灸-高压氧治疗（S-H-A组）。通过比较在每个听力计倍频程频率或听力图分组频率计算的治疗后纯音阈值和绝对听力增益的差异来确定结果。还对不同治疗组之间听力恢复分为完全、部分和差三个等级进行了分析和比较。所有受试者均表现为初始严重听力损失，平均听力阈值>70 dB。S-H-A组在每个听力计倍频程频率和听力图分组频率上均表现出良好的听力改善结果，听力增益更大，与S组和S-H组相比，听力恢复等级更有利。本研究获得的结果揭示了ISSNHL患者受益于针灸、高压氧治疗和传统类固醇联合治疗的初步发现。针灸是一种安全的非药物治疗选择，在这种临床情况下可被视为初始治疗策略。
