Hearing evaluation in pediatric patients treated at the hospital following head injury.

The purpose of this study was to assess the results of a hearing evaluation protocol among 130 pediatric patients with a head injury. Sixteen of these patients failed an audiology evaluation. Ten were thought to have failed based on congestion/middle ear dysfunction, while 6 patients had temporary or permanent hearing loss thought to be related to their injury. The majority who failed because of their injury had temporal bone fractures and abnormal visual ear examination results. More research on trauma-related hearing loss following various types of head injuries and skull fractures in pediatric patients of varying ages is needed.