European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
October 20, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Does local steroid therapy improve outcomes in acute otitis media with serous labyrinthitis? A retrospective analysis.
Fischer HT, Keller F, Schmit C, +9 more, Dejaco D.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Intratympanic steroids did not show a detectable added hearing benefit in acute otitis media with inner-ear involvement, though the study cannot prove equivalence.
What was studied
Retrospective analysis (2014-2024) of 137 patients with AOM-associated sensorineural hearing loss, 44 receiving intratympanic glucocorticoids and 93 not, with change in bone-conduction pure-tone average as the primary endpoint.
Key findings
- Both groups improved significantly in hearing after treatment.
- No statistically significant difference in improvement was found between the groups.
- Subgroups by drainage method and severity of inner ear involvement were also analyzed.
Clinical relevance
ENT doctors treating AOM complicated by labyrinthitis get no clear signal that local steroids add benefit beyond standard care.
Who should care
Limitations
Non-randomized design with selection bias, baseline imbalances and residual confounding could hide small effects, and the authors state this is not evidence of equivalence.
Do not assume intratympanic steroids are clearly beneficial here; prioritize treating the middle ear infection and await prospective data.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Purpose
Sensorineural hearing loss represents a rare but clinically relevant complication of acute otitis media (AOM). Although intratympanic glucocorticoid (GC) therapy is established in other cochleovestibular disorders, its efficacy in this context remains insufficiently investigated. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess whether local intratympanic glucocorticoid application is associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients with acute otitis media-related sensorineural hearing loss.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was performed on patients diagnosed with AOM-associated inner ear involvement between January 2014 and November 2024. Patients were stratified according to GC treatment regimen: (1) intratympanic application of glucocorticoids (IC), (2) no intratympanic application of glucocorticoids (NIC). Subgroup analyses were performed according to the surgical drainage method and severity of inner ear involvement. Primary endpoint was improvement in bone-conduction pure-tone average (BCPTA4).
Results
A total of 137 patients were included (IC: 44, NIC: 93). Sex, affected side and subjective improvement did not differ significantly between both groups (all p > 0.08). Both groups demonstrated significant hearing improvement following treatment (p < 0.001). Although numerical trends favored the NIC group across different severity levels, no statistically significant differences in BCPTA4 improvement were observed between treatment modalities (p = 0.8); however, the non-randomized design and baseline group differences limit interpretation. In exploratory analyses, Ventilation Tube Insertion (VT) and CO₂-laser myringotomy (LP) were associated with significant hearing recovery (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Both treatment regimens (IC, NIC) led to significant hearing improvement in AOM-associated inner ear involvement. In this non-randomized comparison, no statistically significant difference in BCPTA4 improvement was detected between groups; however, selection bias, baseline imbalances and residual confounding may have obscured small treatment effects. These findings do not constitute evidence of equivalence.
DOI
10.1007/s00405-026-10616-y
PMID
42900206
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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