Early detection and timely intervention of hearing loss in children

Friday, August 4, 2023 | 23:16:21

1,187 views

Hearing loss affects hearing function and can lead to many consequences, including the development of children's language, communication, and cognitive skills. Faced with this reality, Thai Binh Children's Hospital has examined and measured brainstem auditory output to detect early and intervene promptly in hearing loss in children.

Medical staff at Thai Binh Children's Hospital check a child's hearing.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Binh, Deputy Head of Department 3, Thai Binh Children's Hospital, shared: Hearing loss in young children will lead to effects on language and intellectual development. In addition, children will have mental decline, be easily irritated and have limited ability to recognize the world around them. Therefore, screening and audiometry play an important role, thereby detecting children with hearing loss, promptly intervening so that children can develop language; minimizing the health effects caused by hearing loss. If previously, Thai Binh Children's Hospital had not performed brainstem auditory electrocardiogram, patients had to be transferred to a higher level or go to private facilities for measurement and testing. However, since the end of March 2023, when the hospital implemented brainstem auditory electrocardiogram, many children have had their hearing tested and measured promptly. Painless, this technique aims to check the brain's response to sound, thereby helping to know the integrity of the hearing system from the ear to the pons. Since its implementation, through hearing tests for more than 10 patients, doctors have discovered 1 patient with hearing loss.

To detect hearing loss in children, Dr. Nguyen Thi Binh recommends that families need to monitor and pay attention to their children's reflexes when called or when there are noises around. If the child shows signs such as: slow speech, slurred speech, decreased attention, lack of concentration in learning, they need to take them to the hospital for a hearing test. In addition to the above cases, children with high-risk factors include: children in neonatal intensive care for more than 5 days; children on ventilators, jaundice; children with purulent meningitis, craniofacial abnormalities, temporal bone; trauma to the skull base, temporal bone and premature babies; children born into families with hearing loss due to genetics; during the fetal period, the mother was infected with herpes virus, toxoplasma parasite, rubella, syphilis; children with a history of using ototoxic drugs in the aminoglycoside group, diuretic group are also prescribed hearing tests by doctors. Auditory brainstem electroencephalography can be performed at different ages, including in newborns.

After being consulted and understanding the importance of hearing measurement, Ms. Pham Thi Hue (Dong Hung) took her child for a hearing test. Ms. Hue shared: During the time my child was being treated at Thai Binh Children's Hospital, I learned that the hospital was implementing brainstem auditory electroencephalography, so I took my child for a hearing test. My child is only 3 months old, so if we measure early, if he is unfortunately suffering from hearing loss, we can intervene and treat him promptly. Fortunately, after the test, my child had no problems, and my family was very reassured.

At Thai Binh Children's Hospital, the process of examining and measuring brainstem auditory output is carried out in the following steps: taking medical history, putting the patient to sleep before measuring, measuring hearing... To ensure accurate measurement results, the hospital has invested in many modern equipment, soundproof measuring rooms that meet international standards. Severely ill patients will be advised to go to a higher level to have cochlear implants and wear hearing aids.

Currently, Thai Binh Children's Hospital only has the technique of measuring brainstem auditory output. In the near future, if licensed, the hospital will deploy additional techniques of measuring cochlear sound screening, measuring pediatric volume... Developing new techniques will help children in the province receive the best care and treatment, reducing costs by not having to transfer to higher levels.

Nguyen Hoang

Source link