Abstract

To compare the therapeutic effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment and pharmacotherapy with that of pharmacotherapy alone in sudden deafness (SD) patients, and to evaluate the impact of therapeutic time window on the therapeutic effect, a total of 264 patients with SD were assigned into HBO group and control group. Patients in the HBO group received routine pharmacotherapy and HBO treatment, and those in the control group were only routinely treated with drugs. Acoustic impedance measurement and pure tone audiometry were performed before and after treatment. The hearing after treatment at different time windows was compared with that before treatment. The overall efficacy in the HBO group was significantly superior to that of the control group (P < 0.05). The treatment initiated within 24 h after onset of SD achieved favorable outcome (P < 0.05) and that initiated at 24 h to 2 weeks acquired acceptable efficacy (P < 0.05) in both groups. However, the efficacy in the HBO group was better than that in the control group at both time windows (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the treatment initiated at 2 weeks after symptom onset could not achieve satisfactory efficacy (P > 0.05). The results demonstrated that the efficacy of HBO combined treatment was superior to that of routine pharmacotherapy for SD patients, and HBO treatment can favorably improve the hearing of these patients. HBO treatment initiated early after symptom onset (<2 weeks) is recommended, and that initiated 2 weeks after symptom onset predicts a poor outcome.

Key words: Sudden deafness, hyperbaric oxygen, time window, therapeutic efficacy.