Cochlear Implant Surgery Procedure
Cochlear implants are advanced electronic devices that are placed in the inner ear of a person who is deaf or has severe hearing impairment. The procedure for placing one of these devices is surgical and the surgery lasts anywhere between 1-3 hours, with minimal surgical pain and almost no post-surgery discomfort. In fact, children who have been implanted are known to have gone home the same day with little or no pain.
Prior to surgery, the patient is anesthetized with a general anesthesia so that there is no pain during the operation. This is standard procedure in any invasive surgery and the anesthesia lasts usually for an hour or two after the operation. For the surgery to go through, some hair is shaved off the patient. This is usually behind the ear, which is where the internal components of the cochlear implants are placed.
The internal components include a receiver and a simulator that are connected to the ear by a thin cable. These are placed near the cochlea and are secured in the bone in the ear, beneath the skin. The only additions to the body in a cochlear implant are these minute but effective electronic devices and once these are in place, the surgery is complete. Then, the external processor is attached. This is placed on the head and with the help of magnets, connected to the internal component from behind the ear.
The surgery is complete with the attachment of the external components but the patient will not start hearing just yet because the outside device has to be activated. Doctors usually allow four weeks of healing time before activating it. Once the device is activated, it has to be fine tuned to the patient's needs and this too is done by the doctor. Fine tuning of the device will be the first step of the hearing process. Next the patient is referred to a speech and hearing therapist whose job is to train the patient to listen and respond with coordination. These are done based on the patient's response to the implant and will go on until hearing is fully established in the patient.
Cochlear implant surgery is extremely useful and effective for those who have hearing impairment. However, it comes with side effects, just like any other surgery. The most important one of these is the risk of meningitis, a disease of the brain. It is therefore advisable to be vaccinated against meningitis prior to the surgery. Apart from that, there are no severe side effects and risk of complications is low.
Surgical implants in the ear are popular all around the world. Though they are expensive they are effective in restoring hearing or establishing hearing in deaf people. At the moment, surgery is the only procedure to have a cochlear implant inserted. The decision to get an implant lies with the patient, the family and the consulting doctor.