Insufficient evidence for benefits of surgery for Meniere’s disease

January 01, 0001

Insufficient evidence for benefits of surgery for Meniere’s disease

Clinical Question: How effective is surgery for the treatment of Meniere's disease?

Bottom line: The only surgical intervention which has been evaluated in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is endolymphatic sac surgery. Two trials, involving a total of 59 patients, were included in the review, 1 comparing endolymphatic sac surgery with ventilation tubes and 1 with simple mastoidectomy. One study lasted 9 years, the other 12 months. Neither study reported any beneficial effect of surgery.

Caveat:Due to the different ways the outcome measures were obtained, and because not all the required data were reported, it was not possible to perform a meta-analysis. In total, 70% of participants in both the endolymphatic sac surgery groups and the comparator experienced some relief of complaints. There is no evidence to choose 1 surgical technique over another.

Context:Meniere's disease is characterised by 3 major symptoms: vertigo, deafness, and tinnitus or aural fullness, all of which are discontinuous and variable in intensity. A number of surgical modalities, of varying levels of invasiveness, have been developed to reduce the symptoms of Meniere's disease, but it is not clear whether or not these are effective.

Cochrane Systematic Review: Pullens B et al. Surgery for Meniere's Disease. Cochrane Reviews 2010, Issue 1. Article No. CD005395. DOI: 10.1002/14651858. CD005395.pub2. This review contains 2 studies involving 59 participants

Cochrane PEARLS Practical Evidence About Real Life Situations. No. 263, May 2010. .
Written by Brian R McAvoy. Published by the Cochrane Primary Care Group

Category: H.Ear. Keywords: Meniers's disease, endolymphatic sac surgery, vertigo, deafness, tinnitus
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 12 October 2010

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Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.