Bone anchored hearing implants without skin thinning: the Gruppo Otologico surgical and audiological experience

Abstract

To investigate the surgical and audiological outcomes of an installation of a bone-anchored hearing system (BAHS) procedure without tissue reduction using Ponto implants and abutments.

Retrospective consecutive case series. Forty-nine patients, 18 years or older and eli- gible for treatment with a bone-anchored hearing system with tissue preservation surgery, were included in the study. Following a systematic scheme for medical out- comes, we collected the data regarding surgical interven- tion, quality of life (GBI), skin and soft tissue reactions (Holgers grading system), pain and numbness (VAS). Hearing performance (aided thresholds and speech recog- nition in noise) was recorded in 20 patients. No implants were lost, skin, and soft tissue reactions were mild in 96 % of the all visits. Quality of life (GBI) generally improved in the aided condition compared to prior to implantation. Audiologically, 100 % of the 20 patients examined showed improvement of speech reception and sound field thresh- olds comparing aided to unaided. An average improvement of 33 dB on PTA was recorded. The study, presenting data on a large population, treated with tissue preservation and modern titanium implants, shows that this treatment is a viable solution that results in fewer complications, high degree of predictability and good audiological results.