Publication:

Intratympanic steroids as primary treatment for sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is an otological emergency which demands immediate treatment. It is a rare condition which goes unnoticed because of lack of awareness about this condition among the people and healthcare professionals. SSNHL is considered to be idiopathic but some researchers have reported viral infections, vascular insufficiency, intra labyrinthine membrane rupture etc. as possible etiologies. There are various treatments modalities described in literature such as are steroids, antivirals, vasodilators, hyperbaric oxygen therapy etc. Steroids are one of the most common treatment modalities used for SSNHL. Intratympanic administration of steroids is beneficial because they help in hearing loss recovery while bypassing the side effects of systemic steroids. Our study is a retrospective study of the 15 cases of SSNHL treated by intratympanic steroids in the ENT Department of Burnpur Hospital from 2022-2025. The study reported more number of males with SSNHL. Most of the cases were seen in the age group of 61-70 years. Hearing recovery was seen in 73.3% of the cases. It is concluded that Intratympanic administration of steroids are a novel modality of treatment for cases of SSNHL and awareness of this condition must be created among the public and medical practitioners.