Short- and Long-Term Hearing Outcomes After Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

BACKGROUND

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is an otologic emergency with a highly variable clinical course. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been widely used as an adjunctive treatment; however, its efficacy and determinants of treatment response remain incompletely defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate hearing outcomes in patients receiving HBOT and to assess the association between treatmentrelated factors and audiometric recovery.

METHODS

This retrospective study included 65 patients with idiopathic SSNHL. Pure tone audiometry thresholds were evaluated at baseline, post-treatment, and long-term follow-up when available. Changes were analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank and Friedman tests, and correlations with recovery were assessed using Spearman's analysis.

RESULTS

Complete pre- and post-treatment data were available for 65 patients. A statistically significant improvement in hearing thresholds was observed, decreasing from 41.7 ± 21.9 dB at baseline to 31.9 ± 22.1 dB following HBOT (P < .001). Among 19 patients with long-term follow-up, hearing thresholds further improved to 25.9 ± 17.3 dB. A significant difference was observed between baseline and long-term measurements (P = 0.006), although the overall comparison did not reach statistical significance (P = .209). No significant correlations were identified between hearing improvement and the number of HBOT sessions (r = 0.11, P = .387) or treatment delay (r = -0.06, P = .658). Etiological factors observed in the study population included upper respiratory infection (n = 30), acoustic barotrauma (n = 2), trauma (n = 1), and cases with no identifiable cause (n = 32). When analyzed according to etiology, no statistically significant difference in hearing threshold improvement was observed between groups (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = .151).

CONCLUSION

HBOT demonstrated a positive effect on hearing thresholds in patients with SSNHL, with the observed audiological improvements appearing to be sustained at long-term follow-up Cite this article as: Kuduban O, Özkan R. Shortand long-term hearing outcomes after hyperbaric oxygen therapy in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. 2026, 58(4), 1486, doi: 10.5152/ eurasianjmed.2026.261486.