Hearing loss and sedation ABR

hokies94 · May 2011

Has anyone's LO had a sedation ABR done? DS' ENT recommended he have one since he keeps failing his hearing test. If you've had one could you let me know the process? I didn't get much information from our ENT and I'm waiting for a call back from the hospital that will actually do it.

DS has had speech issues for over a year. He got tubes at 13 months due to fluid in the ears and no babbling. He's been in speech therapy for about 2 months now and is getting better but still not making as much progress as we would like. He's had about 3 hearing tests in the last 6 months and he's failed them all. He's not quite 2 so getting him to cooperate with the test at all is a huge challenge. Since his speech is not improving as much as they'd like and he keeps failing they suggested the ABR to either rule out or confirm mild hearing loss. I definitely think we need to have it done. If he has a problem I want to know sooner rather than later. The only thing that worries me is that he could be under sedation for a fairly long time. When I asked how long the test would take, I didn't get a definitive answer. Could be an hour could be longer. I don't like him being under that long.

Anyone had one of these done?

erinvh05 · May 2011

My DD had a sedated ABR at 10 months. Looking back, it really was easy. But I understand how you are nervous about the sedation. It is never fun to put your children through things like that. For us, we had to get her up early as she had to fast for awhile before the sedation and she needed to be sleepy. The sedation was an oral medication, no needles or IVs. I think the ABR took around an hour or two. We got the results right away. She has moderate hearing loss in one ear. We suspected this as she failed all hearing tests in one ear since birth. She now wears a hearing aid and is doing well! I might be biased, but I think she speaks more clearly than a lot of other 2 year olds.

ylgirl · May 2011

I agree with PP, the sedated ABR is sounds a lot worse than it is. For us my son had to do take some medicine and it took awhile for him to get drowsy once he was, I snuggled him up in my arms and sat in a comfy chair. Once he was sound asleep they put the electrodes on his head and did the test. Once it was done he was drowsy for a little while after a little while he snapped out of it. Good luck!

carissa_danielle · May 2011

Sorry, double post.... Embarrassed

carissa_danielle · May 2011

I was in the EXACT same situation with DD#1, only she was a year older. She kept on failing her OAE's, so they recommended the sedated ABR. DD had been sedated before, so I knew what to expect. For us, it was done in an OR, being that a breathing tube had to be placed. They took her back to the OR, gassed her, then gave her the IV and breathing tube, did the test and they were done. It took about 2 1/2 hrs, but can last anywhere from 1-4 hrs. She was a trooper, but was very groggy and crabby after coming out of sedation. By the end of the day, she was fine. They will give you answers that day, or at least they did for us. Good luck! The ABR was the test that gave us the answers we were looking for. DD wasn't talking very much, and didn't say hardly any words correctly. We found out that she was, in fact, hearing impaired and was fitted for hearing aides two days later. I was devastated at first. But now, she's had the aides for a month, and she has taken off so well. She's happier and her speech is improving already. She's also talking a TON more - as in - she won't shut up now! I love it! I'm ok with her having the aides now, but it took me a while to get used to them. Good luck!

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