Percutaneous Implantable Devices tied to superior Audiometric Outcomes in Congenital Aural Atresia

Percutaneous Implantable Devices tied to superior Audiometric Outcomes in Congenital Aural Atresia suggests a new study published in the Otology & Neurotology. The researchers found that in patients with congenital aural atresia, those receiving implantable percutaneous bone-conduction devices (pBCDs) exhibited significantly superior audiometric outcomes.

Researchers conducted a study to compare audiometric outcomes, complications, and revisions required for percutaneous (pBCD) versus transcutaneous (tBCD) implantable bone-conduction devices for the treatment of hearing loss associated with congenital aural atresia (CAA). A systematic review was performed searching for English language articles from inception to December 14, 2022. Studies reporting audiometric outcomes or complications for either percutaneous or transcutaneous for treatment of congenital aural atresia were selected for inclusion. A meta-analysis of single means and meta-analysis of proportions with comparison (Δ) of weighted proportions was conducted. Results: A total of 56 articles with 756 patients were selected for inclusion. One hundred ninety patients were implanted with percutaneous, whereas the remaining 566 were implanted with transcutaneous. Mean pure-tone audiometry improvement in the pBCD group was significantly higher than in the transcutaneous group. The average improvement in speech reception threshold was 38.6 ± 2.5 dB in the percutaneous group as compared with 32.7 ± 1.6 dB in the transcutaneous group. Overall complication rates for patients implanted with percutaneous and transcutaneous were 29.0% and 9.4%, respectively. Patients with congenital aural atresia implanted with percutaneous had significantly better audiometric outcomes than those implanted with transcutaneous. However, complication rates were significantly higher among the percutaneous group.