Cochlear Implant Surgery

10/09/2022 13:53

Children with severe and profound deafness are often accompanied by muteness due to the inability to receive sounds, thereby affecting the language development process. Cochlear implantation has become one of the effective methods of treating deafness, especially for children with congenital deafness leading to muteness.

A cochlear implant is a surgery in which a deaf person is placed a device that converts sound into electrical signals and an electrode that converts these electrical signals into the cochlea, stimulating the auditory nerve to move. into nerve impulses to the brain so that deaf people can hear sounds.

For patients with hearing loss that is not palliative with a hearing aid, a Cochlear Implant may offer the opportunity to hear again. The earlier a child is implanted with a cochlear implant, the higher the language development.

Conditions for children to be able to implant cochlear electrodes:

First, the patient must be examined at the Department of Otolaryngology and Audiology to do necessary tests such as audiometry, brainstem electroacoustic, CT Scan, MRI scan, etc. to assess the type of deafness and see if there is anything. Abnormalities in the transmission and reception of hearing from the ear to the brain.
After that, the patient needs to do the necessary preoperative tests for the surgery, and should undergo further medical examination to rule out contraindications for cochlear implantation.
Finally, the patient must be re-examined by the surgeon, re-examined the operated ear, checked on CT Scan and MRI to see if the anatomical landmarks as well as the structure of the cochlea are abnormal, in order to place planning surgery, minimizing possible complications for the patient during and after surgery.

An Viet Hospital in collaboration with surgeons from major hospitals has successfully performed hundreds of cochlear implants for patients with congenital deafness. Most of the patients after surgery have a good response in hearing & speaking ability.