Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The inhibitory effect of intravenous lidocaine infusion on tinnitus after translabyrinthine removal of vestibular schwannoma: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.
Intravenous infusion of lidocaine has previously been demonstrated to have a transient inhibitory effect on tinnitus in 60% of individuals. The site of action has variously been proposed as the cochlea, the cochlea nerve, and the central auditory pathways. To determine whether a central site of action exists, this study investigated the effect of intravenous infusion of lidocaine in individuals with tinnitus who had previously undergone translabyrinthine excision of a vestibular schwannoma, which involves division of the cochlear nerve. ⋯ Intravenous infusion of lidocaine has a statistically significant inhibitory effect on tinnitus in patients who have previously undergone translabyrinthine removal of a vestibular schwannoma. The site of action of lidocaine in this instance must be in the central auditory pathway, as the cochlear and vestibular nerves are sectioned during surgery, and this finding has important implications for the task of identifying other agents that will have a similar tinnitus-inhibiting effect.