Preventing Hearing Loss in Children Receiving Cisplatin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Cisplatin-induced hearing loss leads to significant neurologic, social, and behavioral impairment in children. The goal of this study is to characterize options available to prevent cisplatin-induced hearing loss and to identify gaps in the literature.

Data sources: CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus.

Review methods: Literature was searched between 1990 and 2024. Studies evaluating interventions to prevent hearing loss in children receiving cisplatin were included. Audiometric data including pure tone threshold, pure tone average, and incidence of hearing loss were extracted from included studies.

Results: Six studies (N = 760) pertaining to cisplatin-induced hearing loss in children were included. This includes four randomized control trials (N = 652), one nonrandomized control trial (N = 97) and one prospective cohort study (N = 11). The studies examined sodium thiosulfate or amifostine, both given intravenously. The relative risk of hearing loss between intervention and control groups was 0.78 (95% CI 0.71-0.85). The proportion of patients in the treatment group categorized as grade zero on the Brock ototoxicity grading scale was significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than in the control group (36.3% vs. 15.5%). The change in pure tone average after chemotherapy was significantly higher in the control group compared to the intervention group (5.2 vs. -1.2 dB, 95% CI 5.53-7.25).

Conclusions: These results show mild success in reducing the incidence of hearing loss in children undergoing chemotherapy with cisplatin. However, the literature is limited, and further investigation is warranted.