[Treatment of tinnitus with iontophoresis and local anesthesia].

50 previously unsuccessfully treated patients suffering from tinnitus were given local-anaesthesia-iontophoresis. By iontophoresis it is possible to build up an electric field, in which a local anaesthetic (lidocaine hydrochloride) is able to penetrate through the tympanic membrane. Experimentally it has been proven that this local anaesthetic has a direct effect on the inner ear. In contrast to intravenous and intratympanal application there are no toxic side effects when applying local-anaesthesia-iontophoresis. Tinnitus was reduced completely or partly in 31 patients after repeated application to one or both ears. No connection was seen between the success of therapy and the origin of the tinnitus. Treatment was unsuccessful in 19 cases. No serious side effects were seen. Local-anaesthesia-iontophoresis can be recommended as an attempt to treat tinnitus, especially in those cases who have not yet responded to drugs.