Mucosal Type of Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media and the Long-Term Impact on Hearing Loss

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IntroductionWorldwide the chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is one of the most common infectious diseases in childhood and is a common cause of impaired hearing. The disease remains a challenging entity for the healthcare system of resource-limited nations despite the advances in modern medicine. The nature of hearing loss in CSOM is mainly conductive, the sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is also reported in such patients. The purpose of the study was to identify SNHL in patients with the mucosal type of CSOM and to find the impact of long-term discharging ears on bone conduction (BC) thresholds.MethodsPatients with a diagnosis of the mucosal type of CSOM were identified from the record of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery clinic between January 2019 and January 2020. The patients were divided into three groups based on the duration of the disease: groups I, II, and III for 1-5 years, 5-10 years, and 10-15 years, respectively. Pure tone audiogram was reviewed, and data of BC was recorded for 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz. The descriptive frequency was calculated for SNHL in each group and group I was compared with other groups using a chi-square test. The mean BC threshold of group I was compared with other groups using a t-test. SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, New York) was used for statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 154 patients were included in the study. There were 73 males and 81 females. The mean age was 26 years. The minimum age was 12 years and the maximum age was 58 years. Active ear discharge was the presenting complaint in 84 patients. The right ear was involved in 88 patients, and the left ear was involved in 66 patients. SNHL was present in 30 out of 154 patients, i.e., 19.5%. The number of patients in each of the groups I, II, and III was 95, 28, and 31, respectively. The group I was compared with group II using the chi-square test, the p-value was found not significant, i.e., >0.05. The group I was then compared with group III using the same statistical test, and the p-value was found significant, i.e., <0.05.The mean BC threshold for an average of three speech frequencies for each of the three groups was 16.9, 18.7, and 22.9, respectively. The mean BC threshold of group I was compared with that of group II using a t-test, and the p-value was found not significant, i.e., >0.05. The mean BC threshold of group I was then compared with that of group III using a t-test, and the p-value was found significant, i.e., <0.05.ConclusionsThe findings of our study reproduce the presence of SNHL in a sizable proportion of the patients with a mucosal type of CSOM. Furthermore, the elevation of the BC threshold also appears statistically significant on analysis in association with the protracted duration of CSOM, highlighting the adverse impact of delaying the surgical repair. However, the clinical importance remains unclear because the maximum losses in the BC threshold seen in the patients are not severe enough to necessarily make them hard of hearing. Nevertheless, these statistically significant results influence clinical thought process and measures for an early remedy, including surgery, and need to be considered in time to prevent progressively worsening hearing loss in such cases.