If the hearing loss is severe to profound in both ears, the child may be a candidate for a cochlear implant (beyond the scope of this discussion). Unilateral sensorineural hearing loss was not generally considered a serious disability by the medical establishment before the nineties; it was thought that the afflicted person was able to adjust to it from birth. In general, there are exceptional advantages to gain from an intervention to enable hearing in the microtic ear, especially in bilateral microtia. Children with untreated unilateral sensorineural hearing loss are more likely to have to repeat a grade in school and/or need supplemental services (e.g., FM system – see below) than their peers.Children with unilateral sensorineural hearing loss often require years of speech therapy in order to learn how to enunciate and understand spoken language. What is truly unclear, and the subject of an ongoing research study, is the effect of unilateral conductive hearing loss (in children with unilateral aural atresia) on scholastic performance. If atresia surgery or some form of amplification is not used, special steps should be taken to ensure that the child is accessing and understanding all of the verbal information presented in school settings. Recommendations for improving a childs hearing in the academic setting include preferential seating in class, an FM system (the teacher wears a microphone, and the sound is transmitted to a speaker at the childs desk or to an ear bud or hearing aid the child wears), a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA), or conventional hearing aids.
Dexmedetomidine, sold under the trade name Precedex among others, is a medication used for sedation. It is also used to treat acute agitation associated with schizophrenia or bipolar I or II disorder.Similar to clonidine, it is a sympatholytic drug that acts as an agonist of α2-adrenergic receptors in certain parts of the brain. Veterinarians use dexmedetomidine for similar purposes in treating cats, dogs, and horses. It was developed by Orion Pharma. Medical uses
Intensive care unit sedation
Studies suggest dexmedetomidine for sedation in mechanically ventilated adults may reduce time to extubation and ICU stay.Compared with other sedatives, some studies suggest dexmedetomidine may be associated with less delirium. However, this finding is not consistent across multiple studies. At the very least, when aggregating many study results together, use of dexmedetomidine appears to be associated with less neurocognitive dysfunction compared to other sedatives. Whether this observation has a beneficial psychological impact is unclear. From an economic perspective, dexmedetomidine is associated with lower ICU costs, largely due to a shorter time to extubation. Procedural sedation
Dexmedetomidine can also be used for procedural sedation such as during colonoscopy. It can be used as an adjunct with other sedatives like benzodiazepines, opioids, and propofol to enhance sedation and help maintain hemodynamic stability by decreasing the requirement of other sedatives. Dexmedetomidine is also used for procedural sedation in children.It can be used for sedation required for awake fibreoptic nasal intubation in patients with a difficult airway.