Hearing Loss after Spinal and General Anesthesia: A Comparative Study

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Hearing loss has been described after spinal anesthesia. We examined the hearing in patients before and after spinal and general anesthesia by pure tone audiometry (LdB: 125-1500 Hz; HdB: 2000–8000 Hz). Tympanic membrane displacement analysis was used to noninvasively monitor the intralabyrinthine and intracranial pressure. Eighteen patients received spinal anesthesia (GSA); 19 patients general anesthesia (GGA). Pure tone audiometry and TMD data were obtained preoperatively (0) and postoperatively on day 1 (1) and 2 (2). The mean threshold differences (Δ) in LdB10 and LdB20 were significantly different in GSA compared with GGA (ΔLdB10 + 0.15 ± 3.07 dB vs −1.34 ± 3.77 dB, P = 0.05; ΔLdB20 −0.54 ± 2.24 dB vs −2.45 ± 3.39 dB, P 10 The results of this study imply that hearing loss occurs after spinal as well as after general anesthesia. The positive correlation of low-frequency hearing loss and intraoperative fluid administration replacement suggests that cerebrospinal fluid leakage via the spinal puncture hole is not the only factor involved.