HBOT has complex effects on the cellular immune mechanism, oxygen transport, and hemodynamics, reducing tissue hypoxia and edema and modifying the patient’s response to infection and hypoxia ( 7). The growth occurring during hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the fluids of the inner ear is accompanied by a rapid return of electrophysiological activity cochlea, which is crucial for its physiological activity ( 6). First, by diffusion from the vascular stria through the endolymph of the cochlear duct, and second, by diffusion from the space of the middle ear through the membrane of the round window. Oxygen reaches the spiral organ in two ways. HBOT increases the partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues, in this case in the cochlea, which is an organ that is very sensitive to hypoxia. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) involves breathing 100% oxygen at elevated ambient pressure ( 5). However, the treatment of patients varies because of its unknown etiology ( 3, 4). Corticosteroid therapy is the primary method of intervention in the treatment of SSNHL. The audiometric criterion is a hearing deterioration of at least 30 dB at three contiguous frequencies ( 1, 2). It is defined as a rapid deterioration in hearing that happens in up to 72 h in one or, less frequently, both ears. Sudden idiopathic loss of hearing is called sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). A prospective, controlled, and randomized study would provide more reliable knowledge about the efficacy of HBOT in treating SSNHL. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups.Ĭonclusion: Both groups of patients-those treated with glucocorticoids and those treated with glucocorticoids and HBOT-had similar hearing outcomes. Successful treatment (complete recovery or marked improvement) was observed in 27.8% of the patients in the first group and in 25.5% in the second group. Results: Average hearing gain as measured by pure tone average was 12.5 dB HL (+/- 19.9 dB HL) in the patients treated with steroids combined with HBOT, and was 14.1 dB HL (+/- 17.9 dB) in the patients treated with steroids alone. An audiological evaluation was performed using pure-tone audiometry. Materials and methods: A total of 63 adult patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss diagnosed between 20 were divided into two groups: 36 patients treated with intratympanic glucocorticoid and orally administered glucocorticoid who also underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy and 27 patients treated with intratympanic glucocorticoid and prolonged orally administered glucocorticoid (without hyperbaric oxygen therapy).

6Otorhinolaryngosurgery Clinic, World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Kajetany/Warsaw, Polandīackground: A retrospective clinical study was conducted to test the impact of including hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).

5Pharmacy Department, Department of Pharmacotherapy and Pharmaceutical Care, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

4Center of Hearing and Speech Medincus, Kajetany/Warsaw, Poland.

3Institute of Sensory Organs, Kajetany/Warsaw, Poland.

2Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation Department, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.1Department of Teleaudiology and Screening, World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Kajetany/Warsaw, Poland.Skarzynska 3,4,5, Natalia Czajka 1 and Henryk Skarzynski 6 Skarzynski 1,2,3 *, Aleksandra Kolodziejak 1, Elżbieta Gos 1, Magdalena B.

First therapy session with a client