RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hearing preservation (HP) in cochlear implant (CI) recipients who did not fulfill the criteria for electric acoustic stimulation (EAS). STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study SETTING:: Tertiary academic hospital. PATIENTS: Adults undergoing CI with deep insertion electrode arrays who had measurable residual hearing (RH) before surgery. INTERVENTION: Demographic data, surgical technique, pure-tone average, and radiological findings were evaluated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Pre- and postoperative pure-tone audiometry. A preservation study was therefore performed for the whole range of frequencies (THP), and for low frequencies (LFHP). RESULTS: From the total 25 patients who underwent the surgical procedure, 6 of them (26.08%) did not retain any RH and 17 of them (73.91%) had some degree of HP. A clear association was observed between the use of the atraumatic technique (AT) and the percentage of some degree of HP. In patients who underwent the AT, LFHP was 72.79% and THP was 70.40%. In patients who did not undergo the technique, LFHP was 31.48% (p: 0.003) and THP was 23.50% (p: 0.002). LFHP was complete or partial (more than 25% of initial RH) in 92.3% of patients who underwent AT and in 50% of those who did not. Radiological findings showed that complete insertion is not associated with poorer HP. CONCLUSION: If the appropriate technique is used, preservation of RH is feasible after cochlear implant surgery with deep insertion electrode arrays.