The outcomes of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in patients with sudden hearing loss and analysis of the treatment outcome prediction value of early treatment response possible

Sudden hearing loss (SHL) is an otologic emergency. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in patients with SHL. Secondly, we aimed to assess whether early treatment response (ETR) of HBOT at the end of the 5th (5ETR) and 10th sessions (10ETR) could predict overall HBOT outcomes. Patients’ files who underwent HBOT due to SHL between 01.01.2017 – 31.12.2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients without an audiogram before HBOT and who did not meet the SHL definition, who were under 18 years old were excluded. Demographic data, delay time to HBOT, the severity of SHL, etiology, steroid administrations, number of HBOT sessions, and audiograms were analyzed. A total of 51 patients were included. The mean number of HBOT sessions was 17.6±5.9. There was a statistically significant improvement in each frequency and pure tone average (PTA) at the end of HBOT (p<0.001). Twenty-four patients (47.1%) had no treatment response. 5ETR and 10ETR had a significant relationship with overall HBOT outcomes (respectively, p<0.05, p<0.001). However, only 10ETR was found to be the only independent predictive factor for overall HBOT outcomes according to logistic regression analysis (p<0.05). We found that the treatment outcome success probability with positive 10ETR was 12,5-fold higher than with negative 10ETR. (p<0.05). HBOT may help the improvement in patients diagnosed with SHL. 10ETR can be used as a predictive parameter for estimating HBOT outcomes.

Key words: Hyperbaric oxygenation, hearing loss, time to treatment