Treatment of Meniere's disease with intratympanic injection of gentamicin

Objective To explore the efficacy of intratympanic injection with small dosage gentamicin in treatment of patients with intractable Meniere's disease.Methods Gentamicin was intratympanically given to 25 patients with Meniere's disease in unilateral ear, once every five days for two times. The typical dosage was 1 ml of gentamicin ( 30g/L, made by diluting 1 ml gentamicin in concentration of 40 g/L with 0.5ml of 0.6 mol/L sodium bicarbonate solution). All patients were followed-up for at least two years. The results were monitored and evaluated with Diagnostic Criteria for Meniere's Disease set by Chinese Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Editorial Board of Chinese Journal of Otorhinlolaryngology in Shanghai Meeting in 1996.Results Among twenty-five patients with Meniere's disease treated by intratympanic injection of gentamicin, control of vertigo was achieved in 21 patients (88%). Among them, vertigo was successfully alleviated after single injection in 3 patients, second injection was needed in 14 patients and third injection was needed to control vertigo in 6 patients. Two patients had interrupted treatment after two injections because of symptoms of ototoxicity.Conclusion Intratympanic injection of gentamicin is a simple, less side effect and cost-effective method for controlling intractable vertigo symptom in patients with Meniere's disease. It is worthy to be introduced for clinical application in community hospitals.