title: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Acute Acoustic Trauma: A Rapid Systematic Review.
abstract: In this rapid systematic review, we studied the clinical question, What is the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on hearing thresholds in patients who suffered a recent acute acoustic trauma? After screening for eligible titles and abstracts and extracting duplicates, 6 original research papers could be found. The general methodology of the studies was weak and the differences between these studies were too profound to pool the data, especially because of heterogeneity in adjuvant therapies, follow-up, and treatment protocol. The mean dB of hearing recovery in these studies ranged from 17 to 47 dB in the groups treated with hyperbaric oxygen versus 5 to 46 dB in the groups who did not receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We conclude that the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on hearing thresholds in patients with hearing loss caused by a recent acute acoustic trauma remains unclear. A well-designed randomized controlled trial with enough power is advised to answer this clinical question.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Central Military Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands E.L.vanderVeen@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Erwin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: van der Veen
authors.affiliation: Diving Medical Centre, Royal Netherlands Navy, Den Helder, The Netherlands Department of Hyperbaric Medicine, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rob A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: van Hulst
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Central Military Hospital, Utrecht, The Netherlands Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J Alexander
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: de Ru
mesh_terms: D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: acute acoustic trauma; hearing loss; hyperbaric oxygen therapy