Effectiveness of intratympanic steroid application in long-term tinnitus cases

The effectiveness of steroid application in tinnitus cases

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of intratympanic steroid injection in cases of tinnitus not responding to long-term treatment

Materials and methods: The study was performed in 98 patients (62 males, 36 females) with idiopathic subjective tinnitus aged between 21 and 86 years. Patients received a total of four intratympanic steroid injections three days apart. Tinnitus rating index and audiologic tests were performed before treatment and two weeks after completion of the study protocol.

Results: The mean duration of tinnitus was 4.79± 5.54 years. There was a statistically significant decrease in the mean tinnitus degree index after intratympanic steroid injection in both men and women (p<0.05). When the tinnitus degree and tinnitus duration measured before and after intratympanic steroid injection were analyzed, it was found that the difference in the index of early treated cases was significantly higher (p<0.05). When the pure tone mean thresholds of the patients before and after intratympanic steroid treatment were compared, it was observed that intratympanic steroid treatment was not significantly different in the right and left ears (p>0.05).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, intratympanic methylprednisolone may be an effective treatment to reduce tinnitus severity, especially in tinnitus with a relatively short duration.