OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical efficacy of Ginkgo biloba injection combined with traditional therapy in the treatment of explosive deafness.

METHODSFifty-six (98 ears) participants who were all coal miners were selected. These patients were diagnosed with explosive deafness. and admitted to the otolaryngology department of our hospital from May 2010 to October 2013. They were.equally divided into control group and treatment group according to the therapeutic method. The patients in the control group only received traditional therapy, such as hyperbaric oxygen, while the patients in the treatment group were given Ginkgo biloba injection in addition to the therapy for the control group. The improvement in hearing was recorded and compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe rate of improvement in tinnitus symptom in the treatment group was 78.0% (32/41), significantly higher than that in the control group (55.6%, 25/45) (χ2=4.857, P<0.05); compared with the treatment group (93.5%, 43/46), the control group had a significant lower overall response rate at 76.9% (40/52) (χ2=5.160, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompared with traditional therapy alone, combined ginkgo biloba extract injection and traditional therapy can significantly improve tinnitus symptom and overall response rate in the treatment of explosive deafness in coal miners, which suggests that the combination therapy is worthy of clinical application.