Types
of hearing loss include congenital absence of
ear canal or failure of the ear canal to be open at birth, congenital absence,
malformation, or dysfunction of the middle ear structures, all of which may
possibly be surgically corrected. If these are not amenable to successful
surgical correction, then the hearing alternatively may be improved with
amplification with a bone conduction hearing aid, or a surgically implanted,
osseointegrated device (for example, the Baha or Ponto System), or a
conventional hearing aid, depending on the status of the hearing nerve. Other
causes of hearing loss are: infection; tumors;
middle ear fluid from infection or Eustachian tube dysfunction; foreign body;
and trauma (as in a skull fracture). Acute infections are usually treated with
antibiotic or antifungal medications. Chronic ear infections, chronic middle
fluid, and tumors usually require surgery. If there is no response to initial
medical therapy, infectious middle ear fluid is usually treated with
antibiotics -- while chronic non-infectious middle ear fluid is treated with
surgery (or pressure equalizing tubes). hearing loss from
head trauma is frequently amenable to surgical repair of the damaged middle ear
structures, performed after the patient’s general medical status is stabilized
following acute traumatic injuries.
No comments:
Post a Comment