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Efficacy of the active middle-ear implant in patients with sensorineural hearing loss

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2013

C L Butler
Affiliation:
Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
P Thavaneswaran*
Affiliation:
Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
I H Lee
Affiliation:
Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Prema Thavaneswaran, ASERNIP-S, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 199 Ward Street, North Adelaide, SA, Australia5006 Fax: +61 8 8219 0999 E-mail: asernips@surgeons.org

Abstract

Introduction:

This systematic review aims to advise on the effectiveness of the active middle-ear implant in patients with sensorineural hearing loss, compared with external hearing aids.

Methods:

A systematic search of several electronic databases, including PubMed and Embase, was used to identify relevant studies for inclusion.

Results:

Fourteen comparative studies were included. Nine studies reported on the primary outcome of functional gain: one found that the middle-ear implant was significantly better than external hearing aids (p < 0.001), while another found that external hearing aids were generally significantly better than middle-ear implants (p < 0.05). Six of the seven remaining studies found that middle-ear implants were better than external hearing aids, although generally no clinically significant difference (i.e. ≥10 dB) was seen.

Conclusion:

Generally, the active middle-ear implant appears to be as effective as the external hearing aid in improving hearing outcomes in patients with sensorineural hearing loss.

Type
Review Articles
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2013 

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