No abstract

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is one of the therapeutic modalities used for patients with acute sensorineural hearing loss, to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the blood and alleviating injuries. As our hospital has the facility for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, we use it, along with corticosteroid therapy, for the treatment of acute sensorineural hearing loss. We examined the effectiveness and complications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy by reviewing the data of 239 cases of sudden deafness treated by this modality.Complications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy occurred in 61 of the 239(25.5%)cases. The incidence rates of earache without otitis media, reddening of the tympanic membrane, and otitis media with effusion were 13.8%, 5.9%, and 4.6%, respectively. In 8.4% cases, it was necessary to discontinue the hyperbaric oxygen therapy because of the occurrence of complications ; however, with appropriate management, therapy for 10 days could eventually be completed in more than half of these cases.An adequate understanding of the principles and complications, as well as of the handling of complications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, can make the treatment more effective in patients with deafness of sudden onset.