Assessment of complications due to intratympanic injections

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to report and to analyze the complications following intratympanic injections (ITI) of steroids. The occurrence rate of complications at different ITI sites, four quadrants of eardrum, was also compared. METHODS: A retrospective clinical review in a medical center. Each patient received ITI twice in a week for 2–3 consecutive weeks as a salvage therapy for sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Post-injection complications, especially transient dizziness and vertigo, were recorded. Patients with acute or chronic vertigo episodes in 1 month were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 59 patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and a total of 278 times of ITI were performed in 1 year. The post-injection complications included pain, tongue numbness, transient dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus, and a small persistent perforation. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of these complications between the injections sites on the 4 quadrants of the tympanic membrane. However, there was statistical significance in the post-injection vertiginous episode after IT injections to posterior-inferior quadrant (Q3) and posterior-superior quadrant (Q4) compared to anterior-superior quadrant (Q1) and anterior-inferior quadrant (Q2) (P = 0.0113). CONCLUSION: IT injection is recommended to be applied to the Q2 since the Q1 and Q4 injections are more likely to induce the adverse effect of tongue numbness, while the Q3 and Q4 areas are more likely to induce post-injection vertigo.