The Otorhinolaryngology team of the Doctor José Molina Orosa University Hospital, a center affiliated with the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, has performed for the first time an osteointegrated hearing implant surgery on a patient with hearing loss, who after the surgery has managed to recover her hearing.
The intervention, successfully carried out last December, had the collaboration of the head of the Otorhinolaryngology service of the University Hospital of Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín, Jesús Benítez del Rosario, who traveled to Lanzarote to participate in the surgery alongside the team from the Lanzarote center.
A safe alternative with great benefits
The osseointegrated auditory implant is considered the best alternative for those patients who do not obtain adequate hearing improvement or do not adapt to conventional hearing aids. This device consists of two parts: the titanium implant that is fixed to the patient's temporal bone and an external sound processor that, attached to it, transmits sound vibrations through the bone directly to the inner ear.
In this way, the cochlea is stimulated, which transforms sound into nerve impulses and sends them to the brain.
The head of the Otorhinolaryngology service at Molina Orosa, Antonio Martel López, highlights that it is a minimally invasive intervention with great benefits for patients who, for different reasons such as chronic pathologies, ear malformation, or intolerance, cannot use conventional hearing aids.
Adaptation phase
After surgery, specialists monitor the osseointegrated implant for approximately one month, a period necessary for correct osseointegration. Subsequently, the external sound processor is connected, which is attached by means of a magnetic system to the implant, allowing the patient to perceive sounds clearly and distinctly again.
The patient, 39 years of age, presented with chronic otitis media with tympanosclerosis that prevented her from hearing correctly. She is currently in the adaptation phase to the device and has experienced a significant recovery of hearing.
