Abstract
IntroductionThe BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) Attract is a magnetic transcutaneous bone conduction device anchored into the temporal bone. The standard surgical technique for BAHA Attract is a multi-tools time-consuming process, which requires a large cutaneous incision. The objective of this study is to describe and test the feasibility of a minimally invasive pocket (MIP) technique for Magnet Bone Implant Hearing Aid (MBIHA) with a modified magnet of BAHA Attract without fixation and without any tissue reduction. We use a 3-cm vertical skin incision and a subperiosteal pocket.MethodA study of 10 patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss who benefited from a MBIHA using the MIP technique is presented. The pure tone average (PTA) (dB) for air-conduction thresholds and the speech recognition threshold (SRT) (dB) in speech audiometry in quiet are calculated. The Entific Medical Systems (EMS) questionnaire and the postoperative clinical outcomes are realized.ResultsWe found a significant improvement of 33.8 dB on average for the PTA and 44.8 dB for the SRT with MBIHA at 3 months, compared with unaided situation. No implant was removed or displaced after 2 years of follow-up. The skin condition remains intact in all the cases.ConclusionThe minimally subperiosteal pocket surgical technique MIP without fixation and with tissue preservation for the MBIHA is safe, rapid and effective for patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss. It opens new perspectives of development and modify conventional concept in magnetic coupling of bone-conducted device.
Highlights
The Bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) Attract is a magnetic transcutaneous bone conduction device anchored into the temporal bone
Pure-tone audiometry showed a statistically significant improvement in pure tone average (PTA) of 33.8 dB (SD, 12 dB; p = 0.005) with the test device at 3 months compared with unaided hearing situation
Our study reports a significant improvement in pure-tone and speech audiometric thresholds with the Magnet Bone Implant Hearing Aid (MBIHA) using minimally invasive pocket (MIP) technique compared to the unaided situation, and similar or better results compared to preoperative tests with BAHA on soundarc
Summary
The BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) Attract is a magnetic transcutaneous bone conduction device anchored into the temporal bone. Conclusion The minimally subperiosteal pocket surgical technique MIP without fixation and with tissue preservation for the MBIHA is safe, rapid and effective for patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss It opens new perspectives of development and modify conventional concept in magnetic coupling of bone-conducted device. Despite the good hearing outcomes [1,2,3], this percutaneous system can be associated with soft tissue complications such as local infection, skin overgrowth around the abutment, skin necrosis, or transcutaneous abutment loss (ranged 1.6–25%) due to infection or trauma [4,5,6,7,8] In these cases, it can be difficult to replace it by another implant or device because of the damaged skin. Some potential candidates refuse the device for esthetic concerns or fear of stigmatization
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