Introduction: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of middle ear effusion on the ABR test through a comparison of clinical auditory brainstem response (ABR) results in pre-treatment and post-treatment in patients diagnosed with otitis media with effusion (OME).
Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 42 children aged 3 months-12 months, who failed the otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test in the hearing screening program and were diagnosed with serous otitis.
Results: Following treatment of the patients, the right ears of 76.9% of patients and the left ears of 69.04% of patients passed the distortion product otoacoustic emissions test. In the OAE tests post-treatment, in 23.8% of patients, the right ear, and 30.95% patients, the left ear was negative, and a decrease was seen in the hearing thresholds in clinical ABR. The latencies of the ABR 1st and 3rd waves were observed to be significantly prolonged pre-treatment compared to post-treatment in all patients.
Conclusion: The appropriate intervention in the early stage eliminates or reduces the negative effects of hearing loss. To avoid a very long follow-up period of infants diagnosed with serous otitis media in the first years of life, prompt treatment should be applied to patients who have not responded to medical treatment, and if the thresholds after treatment are above normal values, a hearing aid should be applied as soon as possible and family therapy should be provided.
Key words: Child, serous otitis, auditory brainstem response
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