Clinical Investigation of Acute Sensorineural Hearing Impairment due to Rifles

Abstract

This study examined 53 patients (74 ears) with acute sensorineural hearing impairment due to rifles. After patients were admitted, 16 were treated by steroid alone and 37 by steroid and PGE1 through intravenous drip injection. The therapeutic ratio was 19% and the recovery ratio 66% with no significant difference seen between treatment types in hearing improvement. Forty-two patients were treated within 7 days of injury and 32 8 or more days after injury. The therapeutic ratio was 21% and the recovery ratio 78% among patients treated sooner and a significant difference was seen between in hearing improvement early and later (8 or more days) treatment. We studied average hearing improvement between pre-and post treatment across the frequency spectrum. The average hearing improvement of 500 Hz and 1 kHz was significantly high compared to that of 8 kHz. This suggests that impairment of middle-pitched tones is improved more easily than high-pitch tones in hearing injuries due to rifles, and that early treatment after injury is extremely important.