Efficacy of the Additional Effect of Stellate Ganglion Block in Combination of Intratympanic Steroid and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Refractory Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss (RSSNHL) underscores the need for more effective salvage therapies. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of stellate ganglion block (SGB) combined with intratympanic steroid (ITS) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) as triple salvage therapy in patients with RSSNHL.

Audiologists and otologists treating refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss should await full published results before adopting stellate ganglion block as adjunct therapy; the trial adds to a thin evidence base for this combination approach.

Refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss has very limited proven rescue options, and this RCT directly tests a novel triple-combination protocol that could expand the treatment toolkit if results are positive.

1. 01RCT design evaluating stellate ganglion block (SGB) added to intratympanic steroid + hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO).
2. 02Target population is patients with refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) — those who failed initial treatment.
3. 03SGB involves injecting anesthetic near a nerve cluster in the neck to improve blood flow or modulate neural activity.
4. 04Published in the International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology (DOI: 10.65717/iao.2026.252151).
5. 05Outcome data and sample size are not detailed in the available abstract information.

PMID

42345410

DOI

10.65717/iao.2026.252151.

Journal

International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

1b

Population

Patients with refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss who failed initial standard treatment

Intervention

Stellate ganglion block added to intratympanic steroid injection plus hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Comparator

Intratympanic steroid injection plus hyperbaric oxygen therapy alone