An evaluation of hearing in infants administered with colistin in the premature neonatal intensive care unit

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of colistin on hearing by evaluating the otoacoustic emission tests and clinical auditory brainstem responses in preterm infants treated with colistin in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Method: The study included 30 neonates (male: n = 16, female: n = 14) born before 37 weeks who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Medical Faculty between January 2014 and January 2015 and who were treated with colistin during their time in intensive care because of infection. A control group was formed consisting of 30 preterm infants (male: n = 18, female: n = 12) with no additional disease born in the hospital during the same period. Following an ear, nose and throat examination the distortion product otoacoustic emission test, transient evoked otoacoustic emission and clinical auditory brainstem response tests were applied to all 60 patients.

Results: The otoacoustic emission responses obtained from the control group were positive and clinical auditory brainstem responses up to 15 dB were obtained. In the colistin group negative otoacoustic emission responses were obtained in two patients unilaterally and in one patient bilaterally and loss was observed at the thresholds in the clinical auditory brainstem response test. Significantly prolonged fifth wave latency was observed in the colistin group compared to the control group for the clinical auditory brainstem response at 15 dB.

Conclusions: Given that the study results showed unilateral hearing loss in two patients and bilateral hearing loss in one as well as latency at 15 dB, hearing tests to check for ototoxicity are recommended for patients given colistin.

Keywords:

• Auditory stimulus response
• colistin
• neonatal intensive care
• otoacoustic emission
• ototoxicity
• polymyxin

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.