EVALUATION AND INTERPRETATION OF PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF AUDIOMETRIC TESTS IN SUBJECTS WITH IMPAIRED HEARING EXPOSED TO CONDITIONS OF HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY.

Hearing loss is a serious interference with the individual's quality of life. Among the new options of its therapy belongs Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). In our preliminary study, we evaluated the results of audiometric tests of the first 9 probants exposed to HBOT and 8 individuals of control group treated without HBOT support, all with sudden idiopathic hearing loss. Obtained results showed remarkable positive influence of HBOT on the level of improvement and compensation of hearing impairment in tested probants in comparison with control group. Although the present number of tested individuals does not allow us to postulate a definitive conclusion, we found notable HBOT positive impact on the average rate of improvement of hearing individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]