Time of cochlear implant surgery in academic settings.
OBJECTIVE
Establish the time required to perform cochlear implantation (CI) in academic settings.


METHODS
Historical cohort study.


METHODS
German and American academic centers.


METHODS
A total of 2639 patients underwent CI (1997-2007). We excluded patients receiving an experimental device or technique and those with abnormal cochlear anatomy or incomplete charts, leaving 2253 for analysis.


METHODS
Unilateral, bilateral, and revision CI with devices approved in the U.S. and Europe.


METHODS
Mean surgical time (ST) and total operating room time (TORT).


RESULTS
Mixed model analysis was used; estimated marginal means were calculated in minutes after adjusting for random effect of individual surgeon. There were no differences between unilateral (ST = 171, TORT = 245) and revision CI (ST = 160, TORT = 232), but bilateral procedures were longer (ST = 295, TORT = 377, P < 0.001). In unilateral surgeries, Cochlear Limited (CL) devices were implanted faster (ST = 165, TORT = 225) than Advanced Bionics (ABC) (ST = 183, P = 0.001; TORT = 240, P = 0.023) or MedEl (ST = 193, P < 0.001; TORT = 253, P = 0.002) devices. There were no differences for unilateral CI between ABC and MedEl devices. For revision CI, ABC devices (ST = 141, TORT = 219) were implanted faster than CL devices (ST = 181, P = 0.001; TORT = 266, P < 0.001). There were no differences by age group or between Germany and the U.S. ST and TORT were shorter for 575 CIs performed in the final two years of the study (unilateral CI: ST = 145, TORT = 209; bilateral CI: ST = 259, TORT = 330; revision CI: ST = 138, TORT = 205). For unilateral CI, ST and TORT decreased yearly (linear regression, P < 0.001) and inversely correlated with surgeon experience (linear regression, P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
We report the time required to perform CI in academic settings-data that are vital for cost-benefit analyses and assessing new CI techniques.
Majdani
Omid
O
Department of Otolaryngology, Medical University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
Schuman
Theodore A
TA
Haynes
David S
DS
Dietrich
Mary S
MS
Leinung
Martin
M
Lenarz
Thomas
T
Labadie
Robert F
RF
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003051:Cochlea / Q000601:surgery; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D003054:Cochlear Implants / Q000191:economics; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003638:Deafness / Q000191:economics / Q000601:surgery*; D005858:Germany; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013714:Tennessee; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome