No abstract

An experiment was performed using low-level ultrasound in an attempt to inhibit tinnitus during and after stimulation. The method used a double-blind crossover technique with a placebo. Forty subjects were tested, and they generally reported little or no change in their tinnitus, the results from placebo and ultrasound not being statistically different. It cannot be concluded, therefore, that the ultrasound we were using has any beneficial effect on tinnitus. These results do not confirm the findings of the pilot study using the same ultrasound devices (Carrick et al., 1986).

This paper reports a multicentre, controlled, blind, prospective, randomized study into the use of prophylactic systemic antibiotics in myringoplasty surgery. A total of 130 individuals were randomly allocated to either an antibiotic or a non-antibiotic group. Each individual was clinically and audiometrically assessed preoperatively, and 8 weeks postoperatively. It was found that systemic prophylactic antibiotics did not influence either the success rate of myringoplasty surgery or the audiometric result.

This paper reports a multicentre, controlled, blind, prospective, randomized study into the use of prophylactic systemic antibiotics in myringoplasty surgery. Seventy-one individuals were clinically and bacteriologically assessed both preoperatively, and for a period of 8 weeks postoperatively. The results showed that antibiotic prophylaxis did not eradicate bacterial pathogens already present in preoperative ears, nor did it prevent their development during the postoperative period. The observation that an ear was wet or dry gave no indication of the actual presence or absence of pathogenic organisms.

The aim of this study was to determine whether a low dose of ultrasound, applied over the mastoid bone, caused a subjective improvement in the level of tinnitus in long standing tinnitus sufferers. Forty patients from the Swansea Tinnitus Association volunteered to take part in a double blind crossover trial. They received a 10-minute treatment with an ultrasound generator and an identical placebo device on two separate visits. The devices were randomly allocated on the first visit. At each visit the patient noted whether their tinnitus was completely improved, slightly improved, unchanged or made worse by the treatment. Forty per cent of patients who completed the trial were improved by ultrasound, 7% by placebo. Low powered ultrasound was significantly better at producing improvement than placebo (P less than 0.02 Binomial Test).