Hearing Changes After Surgery

Hearing Changes After Skull Base and Mastoid Surgery

The purpose of this study is to measure the potential effects of surgical drilling noise and/or vibration exposure on the hearing in the ear contralateral to the surgical site during skull-based surgeries

High-speed drills that are capable of producing elevated levels are used during skull based surgeries (Hilmi et al., 2011; Yu et al., 2014). Recently, it has been shown that surgical drilling may have a temporary effect on the amplitude of the otoacoustic emissions of the ear contralateral to the surgical site (Baradaranfar et al., 2015; Shenoy et al., 2015), however the temporary effects of surgical noise or vibration on the hearing of the non-surgical related ear needs to be better quantified. This study aims to to measure the potential effects of surgical drilling noise and/or vibration exposure on the hearing in the non operative ear, during surgical site during skull-based or mastoid surgeries. As part of the study patient will receive Audiometry for extended high frequencies, DPOAE, ECochG before and after the procedure.

Inclusion Criteria:

• participants are undergoing a skull-based or mastoid surgery for treatment of an affected ear
• participants have normal or near-normal hearing thresholds in the un-operated ear

Exclusion Criteria:

• participants have hearing loss (PTA > 40 dB HL) in pure tone audiometry testing before surgery in the un-operated ear
• participants have medical conditions after the surgery which prevents having hearing tests
• participants have abnormal tympanometric results