✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
✦ Clinical Takeaway ✦
No actionable change yet — this is a published protocol for an RCT that has not reported results; clinicians should monitor outcomes when the trial reports, as hyperbaric oxygen for sudden sensorineural hearing loss remains contested.
✦ Why It Matters ✦
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss has limited evidence-based treatment options, and a well-designed multicentre RCT evaluating hyperbaric oxygen as an adjunct to standard care could meaningfully shift clinical guidelines.
✦ Key Points ✦
- 01SuDHO is a multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) — the gold standard study design for treatment evidence.
- 02Intervention: hyperbaric oxygen therapy (breathing pure oxygen under pressure) added to standard corticosteroid care.
- 03Target condition: acute idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) — unexplained rapid hearing loss.
- 04This publication is a protocol paper; no efficacy results are yet available.
- 05Published in BMJ Open, an open-access peer-reviewed journal.
✦ Claims & Evidence ✦
ClaimEvidenceSupport
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment added to standard care may improve outcomes in acute idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
studyunclear✦ Research metadata ✦
- PMID
- 42982521
- DOI
- 10.1136/bmjopen-2026-121315.
- Journal
- BMJ Open
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 1b
- Population
- Adults with acute idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
- Intervention
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy added to standard care (corticosteroids)
- Comparator
- Standard care alone
Primary outcomes
Hearing recovery in acute idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss