A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON EFFICACY OF ORAL AND INTRATYMPANIC STEROIDS IN SUBJECTIVE IDIOPATHIC TINNITUS

Background: Tinnitus is a common and annoying symptom caused by an abnormal spontaneous activity from within the auditory system. Corticosteroids is used as an empirical treatment in the oral form or as intratympanic injection for the treatment of this chronic condition. Aim of the study: To evaluate the efficacy of Intratympanic dexamethasone injection and oral prednisolone in the treatment of subjective idiopathic tinnitus. Materials and Methods: This is an interventional study carried out at Madurai Medical College for a period of one year. A total of 60 patients with subjective idiopathic tinnitus were included of which 30 patients were subjected to Intratympanic Dexamethasone injection and 30 patients were given oral prednisolone. Improvement in the symptom of tinnitus was assessed by means of subjective evaluation with the help of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) before and after 1 week, 1 month and 3 months of treatment. Results: There was a significant reduction in the mean THI SCORE and the grade of THI at 1 month and 3 months after treatment with both oral steroids and intratympanic steroids. Conclusion: Intratympanic steroids and oral steroids can be considered as viable options for the treatment of subjective idiopathic tinnitus although intratympanic steroid is a better alternative as it bypasses the systemic side effects of steroids.