Effect of combining batroxobin with acupuncture treatment on hearing recovery in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

Background: The effect of batroxobin on hearing recovery in patients with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSNHL) is still controversial, and acupuncture shows auxiliary benefits for SSNHL.

Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of combining acupuncture with batroxobin therapy for patients with SSNHL.

Material and methods: One hundred and fifty-six patients with SSNHL were retrospectively enrolled in this study, and categorized into the control group (only batroxobin treatment) and observation group (batroxobin and acupuncture treatment). Pure Tone Audiograms (PTA) threshold and clinical outcomes of hearing recovery were compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between hearing recovery and potential risk factors.

Results: Compared to the control group, the observation group had a higher overall effective rate (p = 0.006) and improvement in PTA threshold (p = 0.007). Among SSNHL patients with high-frequency and flat-type hearing loss, observation group demonstrated superior hearing recovery post-treatment compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Additionally, hearing recovery in patient with SSNHL were associated with SSNHL types, disease duration, neutrophil count and acupuncture (p < 0.05).

Conclusions and significance: Combining batroxobin and acupuncture treatments enhences the improvement of hearing recovery in SSNHL patients compared to only batroxobin treatments, especially high-frequency and flat-type hearing loss.

Keywords: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss; acupuncture; batroxobin; clinical effectiveness; pure tone audiograms.