Vasodilator and vitamins in therapy of sensorineural hearing loss following war-related blast injury: retrospective study.

AIM To establish whether a better recovery of the sensorineural hearing loss can be achieved by systemic administration of a vasodilator and vitamins in a saline infusion immediately after a blast injury. METHODS Retrospective analysis included 134 patients with pure sensorineural hearing loss after blast injury (a total of 192 injuries), who were treated between 1991 and 1995. A group of 82 patients (119 injuries) was treated with 250 mL infusion of saline containing vitamins and pentoxifylin, whereas the other group (52 patients or 73 injuries) did not receive any therapy. RESULTS The patients who received infusion therapy with vitamins and pentoxifylin showed no better hearing recovery than the patients who did not receive any therapy. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the average values of the sensorineural hearing recovery (p=0.315). CONCLUSION Therapy with vitamins and pentoxifylin does not improve recovery of sensorineural hearing loss caused by blast injuries of the internal ear.