Management of Complications in 1452 Pediatric and Adult Cochlear Implantations

Özet

Objective: The aim of this study was to determinethe short- and long-term complications after cochlearimplantation (CI) procedures and to discuss the management and prevention of these complications.Methods: The study included a total of 1452 pediatric and adult cochlear implantation proceduresperformed in our clinic from March 2000 throughSeptember 2019. Of the 1452 implantations, 1201were performed in children and 156 in adults. Theminimum follow-up period was three months andmaximum was 19 years. The mean age of the patientswas 6.7±3.9 years (range, 10 months-69 years) at thetime of their respective procedures. Complicationswere classified as major complications requiring reimplantation, major complications not requiring reimplantation and minor complications. All postoperative complications and treatment methods wereexamined.Results: A total of 148 (10.1%) complications wereobserved in the 1452 cochlear implants. Of these, 69(4.75%) were major and 79 (5.44%) were minor complications. While 40 (2.75%) of the major complications required reimplantation, 29 (1.99%) did not. Themost common cause of major complications leadingto reimplantation was device failure (29 patients,1.99%). The most common cause of minor complications was hematoma (21 patients). Total complicationrates (6.68%) were significantly higher in childrenthan in adults (3.51%) (p=0.00).Conclusion: Our 19 years of clinical experience hasshown that CI is a successful and safe procedure thatcan be performed with low major complication rates.It is important to know the possible complicationsand to manage them correctly.