Efficacy of amitriptyline in the treatment of subjective tinnitus

We investigated the effect of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, on patients with subjective tinnitus. The study group consisted of 37 adult p atients admitted to the Ear, Nose, and Throat and Audiology Department of H acettepe University. The amitriptyline group consisted of 20 patients and t he placebo group consisted of 17 patients. All of the patients were evaluat ed using a questionnaire, audiologic evaluation, high-frequency audiometry, impedancemetric tests, auditory brainstem response, tinnitus frequency, an d loudness matching assessed by audiometric methods at the beginning and en d of the study. The patients in the amitriptyline group received 50 mg/day amitriptyline in the first week and 100 mg/day for the following 5 weeks. I n the placebo group, the patients received tablets consisting of lactose st arch for 6 weeks, with a dosage of 1 tablet/day. The subjective complaints of the patients in the amitriptyline group decreased, and the "present" sym ptoms resulted in fewer complaints. The severity of tinnitus decreased in t he amitriptyline group by means of subjective and audiometric methods. In t he placebo group, no significant change was observed. The success of treatm ent was 95% in the amitriptyline group and 12% in the placebo group. Amitri ptyline therapy was concluded to be effective.