Intratympanic steroid treatment and its effect on tinnitus patients

Tinnitus is described as the perception of sound without any externalacoustic stimulation. The pathophysiology of tinnitus accompanying the disorders of auditory system is not fully understood. Although there are many treatment methods in research have been applied for many years has not specified as the exact effective treatment. Intratympanic steroid therapy is a method that can be used without serious side effects in patients who have failed oral medical treatment in tinnitus treatment. In our study, the clinical treatment of tinnitus and ıntratympanıc steroid effect on the parameters were evaluated retrospectively. Patients with normal physical examination tested and with routine blood examination, were treated intratympanic steroid therapy, were examined in our study. Subjective tinnitus which 58 patients were included in the study. We examined, tinnitus patients questionnaires (socio-demographics, clinical information, Tinnitus Severity Index) and audiological tests were performed when before and after intratympanic steroid treatment. Before intratympanıc steroid treatment for the tinnitus patients resulted TSI 39,53 ± 6,91, after treatment TSI 28,6 ± 9,79, the results were statistically significant (p <0,0001). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age, gender, tinnitus time, chronic illness story, smoking history. Intratympanic steroid therapy is a treatment method that can be used without serious side effects, which can be preferred in patients with tinnitus in which oral medical treatment fails. To determine the efficacy of intratympanic steroid treatment in tinnitus patients and to determine in which patient groups treatment is particularly effective, a greater number of patient groups and controlled studies are needed. Key Words: Tinnitus, Intratympanic steroid therapy