By: Oticon Medical
Date: 24 November 2020
Local anaesthesia - An option for cochlear implantation
Cochlear implantation is typically performed under general anaesthesia. However, general anaesthesia can be contraindicated for some patients because of comorbidities increasing the risks of adverse events or of delayed side effects. These contraindications don’t need to rule out candidacy for cochlear implantation as the surgery can be performed under local anaesthesia.
The first known cochlear implantation surgeries under local anaesthesia were carried out in 1998 in Belfast in the UK1. Since then several CI centres all around the world, including the US2,3, Brazil4, France5,6, India7, the UK8, Finland9 and Hungary10, have successfully carried out the surgery under local anaesthesia with few complications, good outcomes, high patient satisfaction, and time and cost savings. Cochlear implantation with local anaesthesia is increasingly popular in older adults who derive limited benefits from conventional hearing aids11. An implant that is small and thin and that required minimal drilling is especially well suited to local anaesthesia.
A minimally invasive surgical procedure
The Oticon Medical cochlear implant requires a minimally invasive surgical procedure based on a unique screw fixation system. This makes it suitable for cases where general anaesthesia is contraindicated. The screw fixation technique attaches the receiver to the bone using two small biocompatible titanium screws. Professor Dietz from Kuopio, Finland has implanted several patients with the Oticon Medical Neuro Zti under local anaesthesia. He comments: “The Oticon Medical implant is very well suited for local anaesthesia”.
The screw fixation requires no drilling in the bone bed and therefore reduces the risk of intracranial complications, such as hematoma, dura tearing or cerebrospinal fluid leakage12,13. In addition, a survey has shown that the screw fixation technique can save surgeons a significant amount of time in the operating room14. For these reasons, the Oticon Medical Neuro Zti is a natural choice when performing cochlear implantation under local anaesthesia.
Read more about the Oticon Medical screw fixation technique here.
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