Long-term clinical and audiometric outcomes after the implantation of piezoelectric bone conduction devices in children: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Bone conduction devices are hearing assistive devices that are used in many children who have conductive hearing loss, mixed hearing loss or single sided deafness. The aim of this study is to assess long-term outcomes of children who underwent piezoelectric bone conductive device implantation.

Method: A prospective cohort of children who underwent Osia system implantation (OSI200) between the period of Jan 2021 and December 2022. The main Outcome measures were; Long-term complications, hearing thresholds, speech discrimination, sound localization and quality of life.

Results: 25 children were implanted with 27 devices. The median surgical time 39 min. 6 children had single sided deafness, 21 ears had conductive hearing loss due to microtia/canal atresia (20 ears) or chronic ear disease (1 ear). None of the patients had any major adverse events. In children with conductive hearing loss, the median threshold of improvement was 37.5 dB. All patients reported significant improvement of their auditory function. Aided thresholds were best at 1 kHz (median 20 dB HL). Recorded gains were measured up 8000 Hz reflecting good auditory performance even at high frequencies. Speech Discrimination when using the Osia was 89% and self-reported hearing and quality of life by participants improved in all domains assessed.

Conclusion: Osia system is a safe and effective solution to restore hearing without any major long term complications. It provides auditory benefits that covers a wide range of frequencies. Children had significant improvement in their ability to sound localize as well as QoL. Osia surgery can be performed in a routine day surgery setting safely in children.