Hearing preservation rates after cochlear implantation using soft surgery techniques: a 10 year retrospective review at an academic medical center

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether the hearing preservation rate after cochlear implantation has varied over a time at an academic medical center with the evolution of soft surgery techniques.Methods: Adult cochlear implant patient data was identified over 10 years with a total of 316 implanted ears. The hearing preservation rate trend over time was analyzed. The association between the hearing preservation rate and sex, age, perioperative steroid dose and type of electrode was also analyzed. Results: There was no statistical difference with sex, age or type of electrode. There was a statistically significant improvement with a higher dose of perioperative steroid. There was a small but significant correlation between improved rate and later year of implantation. Conclusions: There was a small but significant correlation between the hearing preservation rate over time with the use of soft surgery techniques including a significant difference with the use of a higher steroid dose. These findings bolster the benefit of soft surgery technique.