Microsurgery by city doc corrects ringing in ears of man, 26

Microsurgery by city doc corrects ringing in ears of man, 26

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:09.04.2021

The continuous ringing sound in the ears of a 26-year-old man for two years affected his work, sleep and daily life. But when a city-based doctor performed a rare microsurgery to move a blood vessel away from the auditory nerve, the patient was able to smile again.

Venkat Narayan was referred to the MGM Healthcare by a senior ENT surgeon because the ringing sound diagnosed as a rare form of tinnitus did not go away with medication and other therapy.

Further tests including a brain MRI in January 2020, showed no abnormal tumours or vascular malformation. “After a detailed examination, it was diagnosed that the artery abutting the auditory nerve was creating this problem,” said senior neurosurgeon Dr K Sridhar, director and group head, Institute of Neurosciences and Spinal Disorders, MGM Healthcare.

The team of doctors then decided to do a microvascular decompression of the cochlear nerve. While the procedure is regularly performed to treat shock like pain over the face due to compression of nerves, it is not used to treating tinnitus. “We moved the artery away from the nerve and the problem was gone,” he said. “We had to be very careful while doing this procedure as the risk of deafness and facial weakness were high,” he said.

Venkat said he will carry on with his higher education as he had planned earlier.