Clinical Observation on Comprehensive Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapy in Treating Refractory Sudden Hearing Loss
Objective To observe the curative effect of comprehensive traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)therapy for the treatment of refractory sudden hearing loss(i.e.,suffering sudden hearing loss more than 2 weeks),and to analyze the factors that may affect the prognosis.Methods A retrospective analysis was carried out in 405 hospitalized patients with refractory sudden hearing loss who were treated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology,the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine from 2005 to 2022.The patients were all treated by comprehensive TCM therapy including oral administration of Chinese medicine,acupuncture,acupoint seed-pressing application after individualized syndrome differentiation.The overall clinical efficacy was evaluated,and the difference of efficacy in the patients with various courses of disease,degrees of deafness,types of hearing curve,concomitant symptoms and TCM syndrome types,having or not having previous treatment history was analyzed.Results For the 405 patients with refractory sudden hearing loss,the cure rate was 5.7%and the total effective rate was 28.1%.Among the 405 patients,the best efficacy was achieved in the patients with mild hearing loss,low-frequency decline type of hearing curve,and having no previous treatment history,and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05 or P<0.01).There was no significant difference in the efficacy of patients with different courses of disease,with or without concomitant symptoms,or with various syndrome types(P>0.05).Conclusion The comprehensive TCM therapy has a certain effect on refractory sudden hearing loss.Patients with poor efficacy after conventional western medicine can still benefit from the comprehensive TCM therapy.
sudden hearing lossrefractory sudden hearing losscomprehensive traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)therapytherapeutic effect