Gentamicin - Ototoxicity in children

Hearing loss (Cochlear toxicity)

key points:

1.By audiometry, about 25% of patients on aminoglycoside therapy develop toxicity[1].

2. Most studies in infants and children from different parts of the world however,show that hearing loss is a rare complication of aminoglycoside therapy [2-7].

3. Hearing abnormalities were infrequent in neonates treated with aminoglycosides [4].

4. Although gentamicin is used widely in neonates, reports on hearing loss in such children in later life are scanty.

5. In a clinic and school based
survey in Nicaragua done to identify causes of deafness, earlier gentamicin use was recorded as a possible risk factor in a small number of children. However, most of these children had other risk factors also like meningitis and familial hearing loss
[12].

6. A family history of hearing loss was the most frequent risk factor in this survey. Some individuals have genetic predisposition for developing hearing loss and they can develop permanent hearing loss with therapeutic concentrations and even single doses
of aminoglycosides [13].

http://www.who.int/selection_medicines/committees/subcommittee/2/gentamicin_rev.pdf