Comparison Of The Efficacy Of Drugs Combined With Transcutaneous Low-Frequency Electrical Stimulation And Conventional Therapy In The Treatment Of Sudden Deafness

Objective: This study compared the hearing threshold level and tinnitus evaluation after sudden deafness and tinnitus after sudden deafness treated by three methods: drug alone,drug + hyperbaric oxygen and drug + non-invasive acupoint low frequency electrical stimulation,and compared the difference in efficacy to explore the value of transcutaneous non-invasive acupoint electrical stimulation in the treatment of sudden deafness.Methods: Ninety patients with monaural sudden deafness were selected and randomly divided into three groups using the random number table method,namely,drug +acupoint low-frequency electrical stimulation group,drug + hyperbaric oxygen therapy group and drug therapy group,with 30 patients in each group.All three groups were treated with the same drug regimen,i.e.oral hormones + microcirculatory improvement drugs + nerve nutrition drugs,while the acupuncture point low-frequency electrical stimulation group used our patented low-frequency electrical stimulation device for acupoint stimulation in addition to drug treatment.Three groups of acupuncture points were selected,namely,the acupuncture point of the Tinggong + Yifeng,the acupuncture point of the Tinggong + Zhongzhu,and the acupuncture point of Zhongzhu + Yifeng.Each group of acupuncture points was treated for 15 minutes,twice a day for 15 days.The drug + hyperbaric oxygen treatment group added hyperbaric oxygen treatment once a day to the drug treatment for 15 days.At the end of the 15-day course of treatment the efficacy of the three groups was compared,the change in hearing threshold and also the improvement in tinnitus following sudden deafness.Results: At the end of 15 days of treatment: the total effective rate of hearing improvement in the drug + acupoint electrical stimulation group was 76.67%,with a cure rate of 40%,the total effective rate in patients with moderate and mild hearing loss was 100%,with a cure rate of 72.73%,the total effective rate in patients with severe and very severe hearing loss was 63.16%,with a cure rate of 21.05%,and the mean hearing threshold before treatment was 61.35 ± 12.70 d BHL,mean hearing threshold after treatment 39.26 ± 21.25 d BHL,hearing threshold improvement 22.09 ± 16.16 d BHL,tinnitus after sudden deafness treatment effective rate 83.33%;Total effective rate of hearing improvement in the drug + hyperbaric oxygen group 40.0%,the cure rate of16.67%,total effective rate of 53.33% for patients with moderate and mild hearing loss,cure rate of 33.33%,total effective rate of 26.67% for patients with severe and very severe hearing loss,cure rate of 0%,mean hearing threshold before treatment57.92 ± 12.17 d BHL,mean hearing threshold after treatment 45.44 ± 21.73 d BHL,hearing threshold improvement 12.48 ± 14.56 d BHL,tinnitus after sudden deafness treatment effective rate 52.63%;total effective rate of hearing improvement in drug-only group 43.33%,cure rate 3.33%,total effective rate of patients with moderate and mild hearing loss 44.44%,cure rate 11.11%,42.86% for patients with severe and very severe hearing loss,0% cure rate,mean hearing threshold 64.11 ± 15.67 d BHL before treatment,mean hearing threshold 48.42±19.87 d BHL after treatment,hearing threshold improvement 15.70 12.26 d BHL,tinnitus after sudden deafness treatment efficiency 45.45%.The total effective rate and cure rate of the drug + acupoint electrical stimulation group were greater than the other two groups（P <0.05）,the hearing thresholds of each group after treatment were statistically different compared with those before treatment（P <0.05）,there was no significant difference in the mean value of the lost hearing range between groups before and after treatment（P >0.05）,the mean hearing threshold improved by the drug + low frequency electrical stimulation group was higher than that of the drug + hyperbaric oxygen group（P <0.05）,the drug + There was no statistically significant difference between the low-frequency electrical stimulation group and the drug-only group,and between the drug+hyperbaric oxygen group and the drug-only group（P >0.05）,and there was a statistically significant difference between the post-treatment hearing thresholds of those with moderate and mild hearing impairment compared with those before treatment（P <0.05）,and there was no significant difference between the three groups in the mean values of the lost hearing range and the raised hearing thresholds before and after treatment（P >0.05）,and the hearing thresholds of those with severe and very severe hearing There was also a statistically significant difference in the post-treatment hearing thresholds of those with severe and very severe hearing loss compared to the pre-treatment hearing thresholds（P <0.05）,and there was no significant difference in the mean pre-treatment and post-treatment hearing loss and elevated hearing thresholds between the three groups（P >0.05）.The treatment efficiency of post-sudden deafness tinnitus was also better than the other two groups（P <0.05）.Conclusions: The efficacy of non-invasive acupoint electrical stimulation combined with drugs in the treatment of sudden deafness is superior to that of drugs alone and drugs combined with hyperbaric oxygen,especially in the improvement of tinnitus,which is worth further clinical exploration.