IMPROVING HEARING AND SPEECH EFFICIENCY IN CHILDREN WITH EXTERNAL AUDITORY PATHWAY ATRESIA USING PONTO SOFT BAND

Abstract

99 children with congenital defects of the external and middle ear who were treated on an outpatient basis at the Children's National Medical Center in 2021-2023. Of these, 59 (59.5%) were boys and 40 (40.4%) were girls. The average age of the children was 4.2±0.7. The control group consisted of 20 practically healthy children. All patients underwent a general ENT examination, collection of anamnesis data, X-ray (MSCT), specialist examination (neurologist, geneticist, pediatric maxillofacial surgeon, deaf educator, psychoneurologist), audiometry, KLCHEP, MultiASSR and statistical analysis. According to the above age groups and speech formation, the children were divided into 2 groups. Clinical group 1 included 31 children under 3 years old, that is, the prelingual group, (18 boys, 13 girls) with external and middle ear defects; Clinical group 2 included 68 children aged 4-7 years old, that is, the postlingual group, (41 boys, 27 girls) with external and middle ear defects.