The influence of the concentration of volatile anesthetics on the stapedius reflex determined intraoperatively during cochlear implantation in children.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was, first, to determine the effect of the concentrations of volatile anesthetics (halothane and isoflurane) on the intraoperative elicited electrical stapedius reflex threshold (ESRT) and, second, to evaluate the relation between the ESRTs and postoperative C-levels.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a prospective clinical study in a single subject design.

SETTING

The study was conducted at University Hospital Nijmegen, which is a tertiary care and cochlear implant center in The Netherlands.

PATIENTS

The study population comprised 13 deaf children (6 males and 7 females) undergoing cochlear implantation.

RESULTS

In most of the children, increasing the concentration of volatile anesthetic agent resulted in higher stapedius reflex threshold. After correction for this effect, a good relation was found between ESRT and C-level in all children, except for one.

CONCLUSIONS

The outcome of this study supports the determination of intraoperative ESRTs for programming of the speech processor postsurgery.