Is gentamycin delivery via sustained-release vehicles a safe and effective treatment for refractory Meniere’s disease? A critical analysis of published interventional studies

The aim of this study is to review the literature on sustained-release vehicles delivering gentamycin in the inner ear of patients suffering from Meniere’s disease (MD), and critically assess their respective clinical effectiveness and safety. A systematic literature review was conducted in Medline and other database sources until January 2016, along with critical analysis of pooled data. Overall, six prospective and four retrospective studies were systematically analyzed. The total number of treated patients was 320. A 2 year patient follow up was only reported in 40 % of studies. Inner ear gentamycin delivery using sustained-release vehicles is associated with improved vertigo control (strength of recommendation B), and quality of life (strength of recommendation B) in MD sufferers. In addition, dynamic-release devices seem to achieve high rates of improvement in the appearance of tinnitus (65.4 %) and aural pressure (76.2 %). By contrast, percentages of complete and partial hearing loss appear unacceptably high (31.08 and 23.38 % of patients, respectively), compared to historical data involving simple intratympanic gentamycin injections. Sustained-release vehicles for gentamycin delivery may have a role in the management of MD patients who have previously failed intratympanic gentamycin injections, or those who have already lost serviceable hearing. Their use as first line treatment over single intratympanic injections for all MD patients, who do not respond to conservative treatment should be discouraged.