To evaluate patient-reported outcomes following round and oval window reinforcement (RWR/OWR) surgery for hyperacusis using a concise disease-specific outcome instrument incorporating sound tolerance, pain hyperacusis, psychological well-being, and global quality-of-life measures.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Round and oval window reinforcement surgery for hyperacusis is highly experimental with no controlled evidence; audiologists should not alter referral or treatment pathways based on this uncontrolled patient-reported outcome study alone.
Surgical intervention for hyperacusis remains highly controversial and virtually unstudied; any patient-reported outcome data—however preliminary—contributes to an almost empty evidence base for this debilitating condition.
- 01Evaluates round and oval window reinforcement surgery specifically for hyperacusis (sound sensitivity disorder), not hearing loss.
- 02Uses a disease-specific patient-reported outcome measure, adding some methodological rigor to an anecdotal field.
- 03No control group is mentioned; findings should be interpreted as preliminary signal only.
- 04Hyperacusis surgery is not standard of care and remains highly controversial among otologists and audiologists.
- 05Published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology, a peer-reviewed journal.
Round and oval window reinforcement surgery produces life-changing improvements in patients with hyperacusis.
studypartially supportedA disease-specific patient-reported outcome measure can capture the effects of hyperacusis surgery.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42805093
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.amjoto.2026.104944.
- Journal
- American Journal of Otolaryngology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Patients with hyperacusis undergoing round and oval window reinforcement surgery
- Intervention
- Round and oval window reinforcement surgery
Primary outcomes
Patient-reported outcomes using a disease-specific hyperacusis outcome measure