Three decades of cochlear implant failure and multiple reimplantation: a retrospective cohort study

Cochlear implantation (CI) is a highly reliable intervention for sensorineural hearing loss; however, device failure may occur, limiting patient benefit unless revision surgery is performed. This study evaluated the long-term institutional prevalence and causes of CI failure, and assessed complications, audiological and speech outcomes, and their associated factors following multiple revision surgeries.

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Cochlear implant teams should use long-term device failure rate data from this study to counsel patients about realistic reimplantation likelihood over a device's lifetime and to inform surgical planning for repeat procedures.

A three-decade retrospective provides the longest-horizon evidence yet on cochlear implant durability and reimplantation outcomes, directly informing patient counselling and implant programme quality benchmarking.

1. 01Retrospective cohort spans 30 years of cochlear implant device failure data.
2. 02Reviews outcomes across multiple reimplantation procedures in the same patients.
3. 03Addresses a clinically important gap: long-term reliability of cochlear implants over a patient's lifetime.
4. 04Published in Frontiers in Surgery (DOI: 10.3389/fsurg.2026.1941723).
5. 05Findings have direct relevance for patient counselling, surgical planning, and implant programme audits.

PMID

42978835

DOI

10.3389/fsurg.2026.1941723.

Journal

Frontiers in Surgery

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Patients with sensorineural hearing loss who underwent cochlear implantation and experienced device failure, some requiring multiple reimplantations

Intervention

Cochlear implant reimplantation (single or multiple)