Intratympanic Corticosteroids Injection for Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Meta-analysis

Objectives: Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is an urgent  health  problem  that  required  rapid  interference  to  help  in improvement of hearing loss and prevent further deterioration. Systemic steroids were used in treatment of ISSNHL with all what is known of its adverse effects. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of intratympanic steroid application in patients suffering from ISSNHL if used  as  follows:  as  primary  therapy,  salvage  therapy  after  failure  of systemic steroid or as adjuvant therapy with systemic steroid.
Study design: Meta-analysis review of literature.
Methods:  Searching  at  the  pub-med  (Medline  database)  for  articles including the following key words: intratympanic steroids in ISSNHL or efficacy of intratympanic steroids in ISSNHL. The included articles were 8 articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria.
Data collection: The data collected from the chosen 8 articles.
Data  analysis:  Data  analysis  was  performed  utilizing  meta-analytic review manger (RevMan5) software.
Conclusions:  Intratympanic  steroid  therapy  is  effective  in  treatment  of ISSNHL alone or as a salvage therapy after failure of systemic steroids or in combination with systemic steroid.