Table of Contents
- Overview
- Prevention
- Images
Most cochlear implants operate using several similar parts. Sound is picked up by a microphone worn near the ear. This sound is sent to a speech processor usually connected to the microphone and worn behind the ear. The sound is analyzed and converted into electrical signals, which are sent to a surgically implanted receiver behind the ear. This receiver sends the signal through a wire into the inner ear. From there the electrical impulses are sent to the brain.
HOW IT IS IMPLANTED
Surgery for inserting a cochlear implant is performed while you are fully asleep. A surgical cut is made behind the ear, sometimes after shaving part of the hair behind the ear. A microscope and bone drill are used to open the bone behind the ear (mastoid bone) to allow the inside part of the implant to be inserted.
The electrode array is passed into the inner ear (cochlea). The receiver is placed into a pocket created behind the ear. The pocket helps keep it in place, and makes sure it is close enough to the skin to allow electrical information to be sent from the device. A “well” may be drilled into the bone behind the ear so the implant is less likely to move under the skin.
After surgery, there will be stitches behind the ear. You may be able to feel the receiver as a bump behind the ear. Any shaved hair should grow back. The outside part of the device will be placed 1 - 4 weeks after surgery to give the opening time to heal.
RISKS OF SURGERY
A cochlear implant is a relatively safe surgery. However, all surgeries pose some risks. Common risks include:
- Wound healing problems
- Skin breakdown over the implanted device
- Infection near implant site
These are quite uncommon now that the surgery is performed through a small surgical cut.
Less common complications include:
- Damage to the nerve that moves the face on the side of the operation
- Leakage of the fluid around the brain (cerebrospinal fluid)
- Infection of the fluid around the brain (
meningitis ) - Temporary dizziness (vertigo)
- Failure of the device to work
- Abnormal taste
RECOVERY AFTER SURGERY
After surgery, you may be admitted to the hospital overnight for observation, although many hospitals now allow you to go home the day of surgery. Your health care provider will give you pain medicines and sometimes antibiotics to prevent infection. Many surgeons place a large dressing over the operated ear. The dressing is removed the day after surgery.
Images
Review Date: 05/31/2011
Reviewed By: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of
Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine; Seth
Schwartz, MD, MPH, Otolaryngologist, Virginia Mason Medical Center,
Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
