[Traumatic and occupational deafness].

The frequency of accidental, traumatic hearing loss is increasing due to a sometimes violently noisy environment and to the development of sports as leisure activities. The diagnosis is based on knowledge of the circumstances of the trauma and on otoscopic examination. Total audiometry localises the damage. Occupational hearing loss forms a special subset of traumatic deafness. This trauma is usually due to intense noise occurring at the work-place. It is of insidious onset, irreversibly progressive and without treatment once under way; Prevention is based on knowledge of the deleterious effects of noise and on the individual factors of the subject at risk.