Safety and patient experience with transtympanic electrocochleography

Objectives/Hypothesis: Transtympanic electrocochleography (t-ECOG) is a sen sitive diagnostic instrument used for Meniere's disease. It is sensitive by virtue of the recording electrode's position on the promontory of the coch lea where the signals are generated, There is concern about the invasive na ture of t-ECOG in comparison to extratympanic recording techniques. The pur pose of this study was to examine the safety issues, complications, and pat ient experience with t-ECOG. Study Design: Observational study utilizing re trospective chart review and patient survey. Methods: The medical records o f 205 patients who underwent t-ECOG were reviewed for complications. Compli cations included persistent tympanic membrane perforation, hearing loss, ot itis media, otitis externa, ear canal injury, hemotympanum, and pain. An ad ditional 36 patients undergoing t-ECOG were surveyed on subjective measures such as pain during topical anesthesia of the tympanic membrane, during tr anstympanic placement of the needle electrode, and during the test procedur e and overall experience with t-ECOG. Results: There was one case of a nonh ealed, persistent perforation in the setting of acute otitis media directly as a result of t-ECOG. Two patients developed otitis media, and three pati ents had ear pain for up to 5 days, All 36 patients felt the procedure to b e tolerable with minimal discomfort, Conclusions: Transtympanic electrococh leography may be performed with good patient acceptance and infrequent comp lications.