Results of temporary supply with a non-invasive bone conduction hearing aid after middle ear surgery

Introduction:

After middle ear surgery, the external ear canal is often being packed with sponges. As a result, the patient suffers a temporary conductive hearing loss. The question arises as to whether this temporary impairment can be adequately countered with the help of a temporarily applied bone conduction hearing aid.

Methods:

Ten patients undergoing a middle ear surgery with packing of the external ear canal were treated with an Adhear bone conduction hearing aid (MED-EL, Innsbruck, Austria). Three weeks after treatment, speech discrimination in the Freiburg monosyllabic test at 65 dB and HSM sentence test (HSM at 65 dB and 55 dB noise) was determined before the unpacking. Speech discrimination was measured with the Adhear and measured unaided without hearing aid. Patient satisfaction was also assessed using the SSQ questionnaire and the Adhear user questionnaire.

Results:

The results of the first ten patients show an average improvement in speech discrimination (Freiburg monosyllabic) of 20% and an improvement in sentence discrimination in noise (HSM sentence test) of 11% with the Adhear compared to the untreated situation. In the SSQ questionnaire, the Adhear scored an average of 5.14. The Adhear user questionnaire gave good ratings. The sound quality was rated as adequate (N = 4) to good (N = 5) by all patients.

Conclusion:

The use of an Adhear bone conduction hearing aid can improve speech discrimination in the situation of postoperative packing of the ear canal. This benefits that the bone conduction hearing aid can be fixed by means of an adhesive device and no surgical intervention is necessary. If surgery does not improve the hearing, the patient may continue to use the Adhear.

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)