omega-3 adjunctive therapy in idiopathic ssnhl: a randomised, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Introduction: idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss as a subset of sensorineural hearing loss will be confirmed by a progressive hearing loss of at least 30 db at three contiguous frequencies over 72 hours or less. a sudden or abrupt hearing loss correlates with the time course, and a vascular event is presumptive aetiology. there is an inverse association between omega-3 consumption and hearing loss. this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of omega-3 adjunctive therapy in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss by audiometric assessments.materials and methods:in this randomised, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial, all participants aged 18-70 with a history of sudden deafness (within 12 hours and ≤ 30 days) were eligible for enrollment. they were included if audiology diagnostic tests confirmed the ssnhl. ultimately, they were randomised to the omega-3 group and the placebo group.results:thirty-three patients were randomly allocated to the omega-3 group and thirty-two to the placebo group. vertigo (32.3% of all patients) and underlying conditions had significant relationships with complete response (c.r.)-final hearing level ≤of 25 db in pure-tone average (p < 0.05). there was no significant difference between both groups before and after treatment. although it was not statistically significant, patients in the omega-3 group had faster recovery than placebo. conclusions:omega-3 adjunctive therapy did not have a therapeutic effect on ssnhl patients. moreover, c.r. happened in half the patients. vertigo and underlying conditions considerably worsen the recovery from ssnhl.