Tinnitus Treatment with Misoprost: A Blinded and Placebo Controlled Study

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of conducting research was to investigate the efficacy of the misoprost as a treatment modality for tinnitus. Methodology: A sample of 130 subjects with hearing loss and tinnitus were randomly segregated into control (N=70) and misoprost group (N=60). Misoprost group were administered a dosage of 200 μg per day of misoprostol and it was increased to 1600 ug, for 3 months and Control group (70 subjects) received the 200 ug/day of placebo tablets. Pre and post assessment on audiological measures (tinnitus pitch and loudness matching), Tinnitus handicap inventory and Visual analogue scale was performed. Results and Discussion: Statistically significant differences were observed between pre-and post-misoprost treatment in terms of tinnitus pitch and loudness (p<0.001) for misoprost group. On visual analogue scale 33.3% of misoprost group subjects reported improvement; also 50% of them reported reduction in scores of tinnitus handicap inventory post-treatment. The results suggest that misoprost might act as an effective treatment modality for alleviation of tinnitus; however larger randomized controlled clinical trials are required to support these findings.