Relative efficacy of veria and mastoidectomy techniques of cochlear implantation in preservation of sound-induced saccular responses

Abstract

Objective

Cochlear implantation (CI) is a safe technique to give hearing sensation to a person with hearing impairment. The present study aimed to compare the two surgical approaches of CI, mastoidectomy and veria, for their effects on saccular function assessed using cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP).

Design

Multiple group time series design.

Study sample

The study included 63 children (3–8 years old) who underwent CI using veria technique (n = 20) and mastoidectomy approach (n = 43). The 500-Hz tone-burst evoked cVEMP were recorded on three occasions- a day before CI surgery, a day after the device switch-on and 4 months after the switch-on.

Results

The post-implant results revealed the absence of cVEMP in nearly 40% of the participants. The amplitudes were significantly lower at the time of the switch-on and at the 4-months follow-up period (p < 0.05). Among the participants undergoing CI using mastoidectomy approach, amplitudes were significantly larger after surgery than those undergoing surgery using veria technique (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The saccular responses are better preserved with the mastoidectomy technique than the veria technique for CI surgery.

Keywords:

• VEMP
• Sacculocollic pathway
• dizziness
• surgical safety

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for funding the study under AIISH Research Fund. The study was a joint venture of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru and Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore and therefore the authors would like to thank the Director and Dean of these institutes and University of Mysore for granting permission to carry out the study. Last, but not the least, the authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the participants and their parents for their enthusiastic participation and kind cooperation throughout the course of this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors do not have any conflicts of interest

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded AIISH Research Fund, Government of India.