Safety of Cochlear Implantation in Children 12 Months or Younger: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: To systematically review the literature to determine safety of cochlear implantation in pediatric patients 12 months and younger.

Data Source: Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were searched from inception to March 20, 2021.

Review Methods: Studies that involved patients 12 months and younger with report of intraoperative or postoperative complication outcomes were included. Studies selected were reviewed for complications, explants, readmissions, and prolonged hospitalizations. Two independent reviewers screened all studies that were selected for the systematic review and meta-analysis. All studies included were assessed for quality and risk of bias.

Results: The literature search yielded 269 studies, of which 53 studies underwent full-text screening, and 18 studies were selected for the systematic review and meta-analysis. A total of 449 patients and 625 cochlear implants were assessed. Across all included studies, major complications were noted in 3.1% of patients (95% CI, 0.8-7.1) and 2.3% of cochlear implantations (95% CI, 0.6-5.2), whereas minor complications were noted in 2.4% of patients (95% CI, 0.4-6.0) and 1.8% of cochlear implantations (95% CI, 0.4-4.3). There were no anesthetic complications reported across all included studies.

Conclusion: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that cochlear implantation in patients 12 months and younger is safe with similar rates of complications to older cohorts.