A Comparison Between Postauricular and Transtympanic Injection of Methylprednisolone for Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Patients with Type-2 Diabetes

JIA Hongguang; YU Zhan; LI Xiping; CHEN Zhiting; GU Xiang; HUANG Xiaobing; WEI Yongxiang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1672-2922.2018.03.012

Abstract：Objective To report clinical outcomes, complications and blood glucose levels in patients with idio-pathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) and type-2 diabetes following postauricular or transtympanic injec-tion of methylprednisolone. Methods A total of 78 patients with ISSNHL and type-2 diabetes treated at Beijing Anzhen Hospital of Capital Medical University, from January 2015 to June 2017, were randomly divided into two groups to re-ceive methylprednisolone injection (40 mg/day every 2 days over 10 days) either into cortical bone in the mastoid region (n=39) or transtympanically (n=39). Hearing improvement, complications and blood glucose levels were compared be-tween the two groups using the SPSS 22.0 software.Results After treatment, the total effectiveness rate was 74.36%and 71.19% for the postauricular and transtympanic injection groups (with complete hearing recovery in 17.95% and 15.38%of the patients), respectively . While hearing improved at all frequencies, improvement was more remarkable in the mid and low frequency ranges. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.45＞0.05). After treatment, blood glucose levels increased in both groups, with no drastic fluctuation after medication and di- et adjustment. There was no tympanic membrane perforation following postauricular injection. Local pain and transient vertigo were significantly less in the postauricular injection group (20.51%and 7.69%) than in the transtympanic injec-tion group (58.79%and 28.21%) (χ2=9.614, 8.791; P＜0.05). Conclusion Methylprednisolone via either postauricular or transtampanic injection is effective in patients with ISSNHL and type-2 diabetes, with minimal blood glucose level fluc-tuation following treatment. There appear to be less complications with postauricular methylprednisolone injection than with transtympanic injection.