Risks of Cochlear Implants in Children
As there are many benefits in having cochlear implants, there are also risks. According to
the University of Maryland Medical Center (2014), the surgery can be the prime contributor from
which mini risks overflow. A few risks that follow after surgery will vary from person to person.
There may be complications with the facial nerves in which the patient will lack movement in
face structures. The patients may experience fatigue and possible internal bleeding. Other risks
may occur in response to the procedure (University of Maryland Medical Center, 2014). The
surgery is a delicate procedure. Patients may even reject the implantation due to complications or
a sense of weakness in the body.
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The release of liquid from
the spinal cord is also present. There is also a possible chance of there being residual hearing
loss. According to Sensorymedic (2013), when getting a cochlear implant, it is surgically placed
in the cochlea. During this process it is possible for complication to occur during surgery but not
in all cases. Once the device is in the cochlea, a little bit of hearing is lost. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (2014), knowing the brain
is surrounded by fluid, surgeons find the surgical procedure to be challenging,especially when
done on a child whose brain suture and the surrounding areas are sensitive. The child can
develop what is called to be a cerebrospinal fluid leakage. The liquid from the brain leaks
through a tiny hole that is formed in an area in the inner ear. Similar to the brain, the cochlea also
contains a large amount of fluid. During the surgical procedure there can be a possibility of the
inner ear leaking through a microscopic hole that was formed during the
surgery. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (2014), several more
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According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (2014), during or after the
surgery, numbness can occur around the ear. The patient will begin to loose feeling in their ears.
Reparative granuloma is another risk that can occur. It is the outcome of the area surrounding the
placement of the cochlear implant becoming inflamed. Not only will the upper portion of the
body such as the brain and ears be effected, but there will be some disturbances in the individuals
taste. The taste buds of the middle ear will be effected due to the injury of the tongue’s sensation
of taste which eventually works its way up to the middle ear. According to the Department of
United States Food and Drug Administration (2014), there may be other risks that can be unseen
and other risks associated with the device as well. A few other risks include hearing sounds
differently. Those with normal hearing conduct good impressions on sounds they hear. Whereas
those with a hearing loss and a cochlear implant have difficulty associating a sound with an object. Although cochlear implants are meant to enhance the individuals’ hearing, it will
Cochlear implants are amazing feats of biomedical engineering, and have helped many people regain the ability to hear. While there are some ethical dilemmas that go along with them, there is no denying just how amazing these implants really are. By understanding how the ear works, what causes it to stop working, and using science and engineering to fix that problem, there is now a way to give someone a sense they might have never been able to experience. It can be costly, but it could drastically change someone’s life. Some people may say for worse, but there will always be someone else to say it was for better. Overall, cochlear implants are an incredible invention and will continue to grow and only get better with technology.
Lane, Harlan (1992). “Cochlear Implants are Wrong for Young Deaf Children.” Viewpoints on Deafness. Ed. Mervin D. Garretson. National Association of the Deaf, Silver Spring, MD. 89-92.
According to the Baylor College of Medicine (n.d.), Cochlear implantation can cause many adverse effects including bleeding, device malformation, facial nerve weakness, ringing in the ear, dizziness, and infection. One particular infection that can result from cochlear implants is meningitis. Since the implant runs between the middle and inner ear, bacteria that exists in the middle ear can travel to the inner ear which is usually sterile. This can cause an infection in the audotroy nerve which travels to the brain, resulting in meningitis (Baylor College of Medicine, n.d.). Another disadvantage of cochlear implants is the cost. The American Academy of Otolaryngology (2015) suggests that the implants can cost as much as $100,000 including the evaluation, surgery, device, and rehabilitation. This makes it almost impossible for the middle class family to afford the
Cochlear Implants are frequently thought of as an end all solution to hearing loss, a cure for deafness. However there are a couple things wrong with this line of thinking: First CI’s are not a perfect replacement for fully functioning ears. Second, they will only work for a few deaf people.
Sound is localised to the ear by the pinna, travelling down the auditory canal, vibrating the eardrum. The eardrums vibrations are then passed down through the ossicles, three small bones known as the hammer, anvil and stirrup that then transfer the vibrations to the oval window of the cochlea. The cochlea is filled with fluid that when exposed to these vibrations stimulate the sterocilia. This small hair cells "wiggle" along to certain frequencies transferring the vibrations into electrical impulses that are then sent to the brain. If the ear is exposed to noise levels of too high an intensity the sterocilia are overstimulated and many become permanently damaged . (Sliwinska-Kowalska et. All,
Cochlear implants are used for people who are completely Deaf, not being able to hear a single noise or hard of hearing individuals as well. Sound waves go into the ear, entering the ear canal, then hitting the eardrums in which vibrates. Vibration from the eardrum pass major parts in the ear, them being the bone called the Malleus, Incus, and Stapes. These three main parts in the ear amplify the pulse, and then are picked up by small hair-like calls in the cochlea. Moving as the vibration hits, evidence is then sent through the auditory nerve then to the brain, the brain processes the data and in which we describe as sound. A cochlear implant is a highly invasive procedure where the surgeon drills a small hole into the individual’s skull; opening the Malleus bone then a small hole is drilled into the cochlea where the electrodes are inserted. This procedure takes about 2-4 hours, and surgeons use general anesthesia. Having a magnet under the skin/skull for the receptor to hook to, and also have to shave out all little hairs around the cochlea, and spending $40,000 for this implant. Deaf children should not get the cochlear implant because it’s a dramatically change in ones life and affects the way they feel and see themselves.
Kaiser, L. R., A. C. O. Surgeons, and W. H. Pearce. Acs surgery, principles & practice. 6th. Webmd Prof Pub, 2007. eBook.
Tucker, Bonnie. “Deaf Culture, Cochlear Implants, and Elective Disability.” Hastings Center Report. 28.4 (1998): 1-12. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Weise, Elizabeth. "Cochlear implants can be 'magic device' if put in early enough; Kids learn
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (November 2002). Retrieved October 17, 2004, from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp
Boudewyns, A., Declau, F., Van den Ende, J., Van Kerschaver, E., Dirckx, S., Hofkens-Van den Brandt, A. & Van de Heyning, P. (2011). Otitis media with effusion: An underestimated cause of hearing loss in infants. Otology & Neurotology, 32, 799-804.
Ototoxic medication - Types of medications that are “toxic to the hearing mechanism” and that are used to treat specific infections and/or cancer, can lead to hearing loss.
Sparrow, R. (2010). Implants and ethnocide: Learning from the cochlear implant controversy. Disability & Society, 25(4), 455-466. doi:10.1080/09687591003755849
Then, when I was three years old, I had surgery to get a cochlear implant at the University of Minnesota. A cochlear implant is a small device which bypasses the damaged parts of the ear and directly stimulates the auditory nerve. Signals generated by the implant are sent by the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes t...
The External or Outer Ear - comprises of the auricle or pinna which is the fleshy part of the outer ear. It is cup-shaped and collects and amplifies sound waves which then passes along the ear canal to the ear drum or tympanic membrane. The rim of the auricle is called the helix and the inferior portion is called the lobule. The external auditory canal is a carved tube and contains a few hair and ceruminous glands which are specialized sebaceous or oil glands. These secrete ear wax or cerumen. Both the hairs and the cerumen help prevent dust and foreign objects from entering the ear. A number of people produce large amounts of cerumen, and this sometimes cause the build up to be impacted and can bri...