Combination of Pulse Steroid with Intratympanic Injections in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Oral prednisolone was suggested as the first step to treat idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL). This study aimed to investigate the effect of pulse therapy with methylprednisolone and intratympanic methylprednisolone, compared to traditional oral prednisolone therapy on patients with ISSHL.  

This randomized control trial included an experimental group receiving 500 mg intravenous methylprednisolone for three sequential days, followed by 1 mg/kg oral prednisolone for 11 days, and intratympanic Depo-Medrol four times twice a week. On the other hand, the control group received 1 mg/kg oral prednisolone for 14 days. Hearing change was assessed through pure tone audiometry. Subsequently, hearing recovery was investigated and analyzed in this study.  

This study was conducted on 51 patients who were divided into two groups of experimental (n=26) and control (n=25). The result revealed no significant difference between the two groups in terms of hearing improvement (P=0.28).  

This revealed no added benefit in pulse steroids combined with intratympanic injections in cases with sudden hearing loss.