Intratympanic steroid treatment: a review.

OBJECTIVE: To review published literature regarding the use of intratympanic steroids in the treatment of Meniere's disease and sudden sensorineural hearing loss and to make recommendations regarding their use based on the literature review.

DATA SOURCES: Literature review from 1996 to 2003, PubMed, Medline Plus, and Web of Science.

STUDY SELECTION: Retrospective case series and uncontrolled prospective cohort studies were the only types of studies available for review.

CONCLUSION: On the basis of the available literature, a weak recommendation is made to use intratympanic steroid treatment of sudden hearing loss if oral steroid therapy fails or is contraindicated. The available studies regarding intratympanic steroid treatment of Meniere's disease and tinnitus are inadequate to answer the question of the efficacy of this treatment for these conditions. Higher quality studies are needed.