Cochlear Implants

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

• A cochlear implant (CI) is a small device that helps improve your hearing. Normally, sounds are changed into electric signals by hair cells in your cochlea. The signals are sent through your auditory (hearing) nerve to your brain, allowing you to hear sound. The cochlea is inside your inner ear. Damage to the hair cells in the cochlea causes hearing loss.
  
  
• With a CI, you will wear a plastic ear piece with a tiny microphone. This is attached to a speech or sound box. During surgery, electrodes (wires) are put into your cochlea. An incision is made behind your ear and a receiver is put under the skin. The receiver works together with a transmitter. The transmitter is a round plastic coil that is worn outside your ear.

CARE AGREEMENT:

You have the right to help plan your care. Learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. Discuss treatment options with your caregivers to decide what care you want to receive. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

RISKS:

• Parts of your ear may be damaged during your procedure. Facial nerves may also be damaged. This can cause numbness and loss of movement to parts of your face. After your procedure, you may feel dizzy. You may get an infection of the incision area. The infection can spread and cause meningitis. This is an infection of your brain and spinal cord. Your CI may not be in the right place or it could stop working. If this happens, you may need to have another surgery to fix it.
  
  
• Without treatment, your hearing problems may get worse. You may also become deaf.

WHILE YOU ARE HERE:

Before your surgery:

• Informed consent is a legal document that explains the tests, treatments, or procedures that you may need. Informed consent means you understand what will be done and can make decisions about what you want. You give your permission when you sign the consent form. You can have someone sign this form for you if you are not able to sign it. You have the right to understand your medical care in words you know. Before you sign the consent form, understand the risks and benefits of what will be done. Make sure all your questions are answered.
  
  
• Caregivers may insert an intravenous tube (IV) into your vein. A vein in the arm is usually chosen. Through the IV tube, you may be given liquids and medicine.
  
  
• Pre-op care: You may be given medicine right before your surgery. This medicine may help make you feel relaxed and sleepy. You are taken to the room where your surgery will be done. You are then moved to a table or bed where you will lie on your back. A small amount of your hair may be shaved and your skin will be cleaned.
  
  
  • Epinephrine: This is medicine given as a shot into your skin. Epinephrine will help keep you from bleeding too much during surgery.
    
    
  • Antibiotics: Right before your surgery, your caregiver will put antibiotic medicine into your IV. Antibiotics help your body kill germs that may cause meningitis. Meningitis is a serious infection in the brain and spinal cord.
    
    
  • General anesthesia: Caregivers use this medicine to keep you asleep and free from pain during surgery. They give you anesthesia through your IV or as a gas. You may breathe in the gas through a mask or through a breathing tube placed down your throat. The tube may cause you to have a sore throat when you wake up.

During your surgery:

• You will receive anesthesia medicine to keep you asleep and free of pain during your surgery. A small amount of your hair may be shaved and your skin will be cleaned. Your caregiver will fold your outer ear inward to cover your ear opening.
  
  
• Your caregiver will cut behind your ear along your hairline. Your caregiver will then lift up a flap of skin. Your caregiver may need to remove bone to create a small space to put the receiver. The electrodes will be placed into your cochlea. Your incision will be closed with sutures.
  
  
• If you are having a CI placed in both ears, you may require another surgery to place the second CI.

After your surgery:

You are taken to a room where you can rest and stay until you are awake. Do not try to get out of bed until your caregiver says it is OK. You may then be able to go home or you may be taken to your hospital room. A bandage is placed behind your ear to keep the wound clean and dry. This will be removed the next day when your caregiver checks your wound.

Learn more about Cochlear Implants (Inpatient Care)