Treatment of Meniere's disease by intratympanic injection with lidocaine.

Intratympanic injection of lidocaine hydrochloride was used to alleviate distressing symptoms of tinnitus and vertigo in 28 patients with Meniere's disease. Of the 28 patients, 82% found an immediate improvement in vertigo, and there was an improvement in tinnitus in 67.8%. There was no change in complaints of tinnitus or vertigo in five patients with Meniere's disease who were each injected with a similar amount of saline into the middle ear, and who acted as a control group. An intratympanic injection of lidocaine alleviated the disabling symptoms of tinnitus and vertigo in some of the patients with Meniere's disease who had not reacted well to medical treatment. The procedure is without the hazards of the intravenous injection of lidocaine, and can be done by every otologist, even in clinic practice.