Cochlear implantation in 602 cases: surgical complications during 7 years of experience in a specialized institute

• Published in: Journal of medicine in scientific research : JMSR : official publication of General Organization of Teaching Hospitals and Institutes Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 22 - 28
• Main Authors: Sefein, Ihab, Mustafa, Ahmed, Gaballah, Mohammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.01.2022; General Organization of Teaching Hospitals and Institutes
• Subjects: cochlear implantation; complication; device failure; facial palsy; reimplantation; facial palsy; reimplantation; complication; device failure; Cochlear implantation
• ISSN: 2537-091X; 2537-0928
• DOI: 10.4103/jmisr.jmisr_61_21

Aim To assess the complications of cochlear implantation (CI) during our 7 years of experience since the start of the CI program in our institute. Patients and methods The study included 602 CI procedures performed from April 2013 to January 2020. The follow-up period ranged between 12 and 73 months. Complications were classified into perioperative, major complications requiring reimplantation, major complications not requiring reimplantation, and minor complications. Collected data were statistically analyzed. Results Of the 602 implantations, 509 were children. Age ranged between 1.2 and 64 years. Mean implantation age in pediatrics was 4.4 and 31.07 years in adults. A total of 76 (12.62%) complications were recorded, 49 (8.13%) in children and 27 (4.49%) in adults. Of these, 17 (2.83%) were major, 24 (3.99%) were minor, and 35 (5.81%) were perioperative complications. Five (0.83%) of the major complications required reimplantation (two cases of device failure 0.33%), and 12 did not need reimplantation. Our study's most common cause of minor complications was partial facial nerve paresis (11 patients, 1.83%). Conclusion Our 7 years of experience have shown that CI is a successful and safe procedure that can be performed with low major complication rates. It is important to know the possible complications and to manage them properly.