To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) combined with systemic corticosteroids in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL), with particular focus on treatment timing, predictors of hearing recovery, and the impact of comorbidities.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
This large retrospective cohort adds to the evidence base for combined hyperbaric oxygen and steroid therapy in ISSNHL, but the absence of a control group prevents firm conclusions; current treatment guidelines should continue to guide decision-making until prospective controlled data are available.
Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss has limited proven treatments, and this ten-year cohort of 332 patients is among the larger retrospective datasets evaluating adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy, informing real-world practice discussions.
- 01332 patients with sudden unexplained hearing loss treated over 10 years.
- 02Treatment combined hyperbaric oxygen therapy (breathing pure oxygen under pressure) with systemic corticosteroids.
- 03Retrospective cohort design; no randomised control group included.
- 04Study reports on both efficacy (hearing recovery) and safety outcomes.
- 05One of the larger single-institution datasets on this combined treatment approach.
Combined hyperbaric oxygen therapy and systemic corticosteroids are effective for treating idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
studypartially supportedCombined hyperbaric oxygen and steroid therapy is safe over a ten-year treatment period in ISSNHL patients.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42867355
- DOI
- 10.65717/iao.2026.252388.
- Journal
- International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Sample size
- 332
- Population
- Adults with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
- Intervention
- Combined hyperbaric oxygen therapy and systemic corticosteroids
Primary outcomes
Hearing recovery rate following combined treatment; Safety and adverse event profile of combined hyperbaric oxygen and steroid therapy