Long-Term Safety and Quality of Life after Vibroplasty in Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Short/Long Incus Process Coupler

Abstract

<b><i>Objective:</i></b> The study shows the long-term effectiveness, safety, and quality of life after Vibrant Soundbridge (VSB) implantation in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) using the short process coupler (SP) or the long process coupler (LP). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This retrospective study evaluated 77 VSB cases. Follow-up (F/U) time-dependent objective measurements (audiological outcomes), subjective data collection (quality-of-life questionnaire), and safety measures are presented. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Sixty-two ears were included in the analysis with up to 116 months of postsurgical F/U data (mean 32.15 ± 37.97 months LP and SP coupler). Fifty-three ears (13 bilateral cases) received the LP coupler and 9 subjects the SP coupler. The post-operative bone conduction thresholds remained stable and, in both groups, &#x3c;10 dB. The benefit in word recognition scores measured at 65 dB SPL and 80 dB SPL showed no significant difference between the couplers (<i>p</i> = 0.559 and <i>p</i> = 0.088, respectively). The functional gain was not significantly different (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05) with a mean of 20.91 ± 9.77 and 17.19 ± 5.75 for LP and SP coupler, respectively. The utility score deciphered from the Assessment of Quality-of-life Questionnaire-8 dimensions revealed a mean score of 0.75 ± 0.16 which is not significantly different to the age- and sex-matched healthy control group with 0.81 ± 0.02 (<i>p</i> = 0.3547). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The Incus Vibroplasty utilizing both couplers is a safe and effective method to treat mild-to-severe SNHL. Both fixation methods of the floating mass transducer exhibit good clinical and audiological outcomes with high patient quality of life. The SP coupling method can be a good alternative when the long process is anatomically inaccessible, or the approach is limited due to anatomical reasons.