Bone-anchored hearing device placement with translabyrinthine tumor removal.

OBJECTIVE

Translabyrinthine resection of intracranial tumors results in single-sided deafness, which can be treated by surgical and nonsurgical means. Here we describe the first series examining complication and device usage rates among patients receiving a surgically implanted bone-anchored hearing device (BAHD) at the time of translabyrinthine tumor removal.

STUDY

DESIGN

Case series with chart review.

SETTING

Private tertiary neurotologic referral center.

PATIENTS: Patients (N = 154) undergoing concurrent BAHD placement and translabyrinthine tumor resection.

INTERVENTION: Concurrent BAHD placement and translabyrinthine tumor removal.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Postoperative complication rates and BAHD usage.

RESULTS

Of the 154 patients, 121 (78.6%) had no device-related complications. The most common device-related complications were skin overgrowth (8.4%), acute infection (5.2%), and chronic infection (3.2%). The overall and specific complication rates did not differ from published BAHD complication rates. One patient (0.6%) developed a cerebrospinal leak through the surgical site for the device. At the time of last follow-up (mean, 39.8 months), 151 patients (95.0%) were still using their devices.

CONCLUSION

Patients undergoing concurrent translabyrinthine tumor removal and BAHD placement exhibit similar device-related complication profiles as patients undergoing standard device placement. Based on these outcomes and the high long-term usage rates, BAHD insertion at the time of translabyrinthine intracranial surgery can be considered a safe and useful procedure.