The probability of renewed implant replacement in patients due to medical reasons is higher than that of technical defects

With cochlear implantation (CI), as with all medical devices, a medical or technical incident may occur over time that requires replacement. Several studies have shown that patients achieve similar hearing results after implant replacement, as before replacement. We wondered if patients who had to undergo an implant replacement due to a medical cause were more likely to have an implant replacement again than patients with technical defect.

A total of 1,588 implants from 1,120 patients were examined. In a prospective analysis we examined the probability of default of implant replacement. The failure probability of the initial and those of the exchanged implants were compared afterwards.

It turns out that in 124 cases there was an implant replacement. This was followed by a renewed exchange in 17 cases. The total default probability is thus 7.8%. In 13.7% there was a further exchange after reimplantation (p = 0.0464). Comparing only the probabilities of medical events, this was significantly increased (p = 0.0085). In contrast to the replacement after technical defects (p = 0,846).

It can be seen that due to medical reasons, patients affected by an implant replacement need to be reimplanted significantly more frequently. However, the replacement of patients with technical defects shows, as expected, no significant change in the probability of default. This information may play a role in the preoperative doctor-patient conversation, just prior to a possible implant replacement.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)