Safety and Effectiveness of the Vibrant Soundbridge in Treating Conductive and Mixed Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

Laryngoscope

Ernst, A., Todt, I., et al. (2016).

Laryngoscope, 126(6), 1451-7.

This systematic review compares the safety and effectiveness of the Vibrant Soundbridge devices in comparison to no intervention, bone conduction hearing implants (BCHI), and middle ear surgery plus hearing aids for individuals with conductive or mixed hearing loss.

Not stated



January 2006-April 2014

Published English- or German-language studies (not further specified)

34

Studies comparing results of middle ear implants (MEI) to ear reconstruction surgery with hearing aids found functional gain with the MEI of 37.3 dB, compared to 29.2 dB post-surgery and hearing aids.

Studies investigating middle ear implants found:<ul> <li>Adverse events or postoperative complications in 16.3% of patients.</li> <li>No significant change in bone conduction thresholds.</li> <li>Functional gain from the middle ear implant at 3 months ranging from 12.5 to 43.4 dB HL, distributed across 500, 1k, 2k and 4k Hz. </li></ul>