Introduction: Sudden deafness is characterized by an abrupt onset, often idiopathic, and tinnitus
is present, representing the main complaint in up to 80% of patients.
Objective: The study aimed to review carefully all studies of the past 10 years on sudden deafness
and tinnitus, and analyze the effectiveness of oral and intratympanic steroids for
tinnitus control in eight patients with sudden deafness and severe disabling tinnitus.
Method: An analytical prospective in which 64 patients after sudden deafness with tinnitus
were monitored, and 8 of these suffering with severe disabling tinnitus underwent
hearing evaluation and application of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and Visual Analogue
Scale before, during, and after sudden deafness and treated with oral and intratympanic
steroids. A systematic review of publications was made on the topic in the library
of PubMed/MEDLINE, with Keywords sudden deafness and tinnitus.
Results: Eleven scientific studies were analyzed. Eight patients treated with intratympanic
and oral corticosteroids were selected; just two patients showed improvement in hearing
but seven of them showed big improvement in their tinnitus, which was demonstrated
by an improvement in the values of the degrees of severity of tinnitus.
Conclusion: Patients with sudden deafness and severe disabling tinnitus who underwent intratympanic
and oral corticosteroids showed, in this study, significant reduction and/or remission
of tinnitus.
Keywords: hearing loss, sudden hearing loss, tinnitus.
