Feasibility of one-day activation in cochlear implant recipients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if cochlear implants recipients can be safely and effectively fitted with their sound processor one day after their implant surgery. DESIGN: All subjects were implanted with MED-EL Concerto cochlear implant. Subjects' electrode impedance levels, maximum comfortable levels, and threshold levels were measured one day after surgery and compared to measurements obtained one month post implantation using the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. STUDY SAMPLE: Twenty-nine participants in the age range of 1 to 42 years (average of 5 years). RESULTS: No adverse events were reported post-operatively. Measures after one day of surgery were significantly less than those measured one month post implantation. CONCLUSION: Early activation of the implant did not impact the healing process of the incision site, suggesting that one-day activation of the implant is feasible for some patients when medically possible. The evolution of the impedance and stimulation levels were consistent with that reported in previous studies, which indicates that early activation did not interfere with the physiological changes taking place after implantation.

Cochlear implant device activation and programming: 5 days postimplantation.

OBJECTIVE: Cochlear implants (CIs) are typically activated 3 to 6 weeks after the surgery. For some patients who live in remote areas, this waiting period could impose some personal and financial burdens. The current study examined whether CI recipients can be safely and effectively fitted with their speech processor five days after their implantation. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: A total of 23 patients (2-30 yr of age) undergoing traditional CI surgery were recruited to participate in this study. Participants were divided into 2 groups: an early-fit group whose devices were activated 5 days after surgery and standard-fit group whose devices were activated using the recommended waiting period. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures of impedance and most comfortable levels were used to compare differences across the 2 groups of patients. Data were measured at the activation session and also at 4 weeks after the initial session. RESULTS: No adverse events were reported postoperatively. Electrode impedances were significantly lower for the early-fit group than that for the standard-fit group in the initial activation session but not in the 4-week follow-up session. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the stimulation fitting levels in any of the sessions. CONCLUSION: The results presented in this article demonstrated that early activation for this sample did not seem to interfere with wound healing or with the fitting parameters suggesting that early activation should be considered as viable option to better serve CI patients' individual needs.