Page 7 - Portuguese Journal - SPORL - Vol 61. Nº1

Tinnitus evolution in patients with sudden

sensorineural hearing loss treated with

hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Original Article

Authors Abstract

Introduction: Sudden sensorineural hearing
Sofia Teles loss presents with tinnitus in up to 90% of cases.
Centro de Medicina Subaquática e Hiperbárica, Tinnitus constitutes a subjective complaint,
Portugal therefore hard to quantify and evaluate.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HOT) constitutes a
Luís Freitas valuable adjunctive therapy in patients who are
Grupo HPA Saúde, Portugal
only parcially responsive or refractory to corticoid
Guilherme Bernardo treatment, but the effect it may have on tinnitus
Centro de Medicina Subaquática e Hiperbárica, remains poorly studied.
Portugal Goals: To evaluate HOT effect on tinnitus and
audiometric evolution in sudden sensorineural
Joana Cardoso hearing loss with tinnitus, refractory to corticoid
Centro de Medicina Subaquática e Hiperbárica, treatment.
Portugal Methods: This paper presents a prospective non-
controlled study that applied Tinnitus Handicap
José Menezes Inventory (THI) before and after treatment with
Centro de Medicina Subaquática e Hiperbárica, HOT. The study was carried in the Portuguese
Portugal
Navy’s Center for Hyperbaric and Subaquatic
Carla Amaro Medicine, between May and December, 2018. The
Centro de Medicina Subaquática e Hiperbárica, Center’s HOT protocol included on average 20
Portugal sessions at 2.5 ATM for 90 minutes. The statistic
analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics
26 software.
Resuls: 57 patients were included in the study,
with ages between 25-78 years (average 51), 50.8%
female. The average time between symptom onset
and HOT was 34,9 days. We were able to make
an inverse correlation between the symptom-
treatment window and hearing outcomes
(p=0,045). The average hearing outcome was of
17dB. According to Spiegel’s hearing outcome
classification, there was complete recovery in
19% of patients, parcial recovery in 23%, slight
improvement in 33% and no improvement in 25%
of patients. Regarding tinnitus, most patients had
a THI classification of grade 3 or 4 before treatment
(71%). After treatment, 77% of patients presented a
THI score <3. We observed an improvement of THI
classification even in patients with no audiometric
Correspondence: improvement.
Sofia Teles Conclusion: This data concludes that, besides
hssteles@gmail.com improving hearing outcomes, HOT seems to
have a positive effect in improving tinnitus and
it’s impact in the patient’s quality of life. Patients
Article received on April 7, 2022. should be referred to HOT treatment as soon as
Accepted for publication on October 27, 2022. possible, since the window between symptom

Volume 61 . Nº1 . March 2023 7