Media Release

Mangaluru, Feb 24: In a major step forward in advanced hearing restoration, the department of ENT, Head and Neck, cochlear implant and skull base surgery at Yenepoya Medical College Hospital has successfully performed the first simultaneous bilateral cochlear implant surgery in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts using the SmartNav intraoperative technology on a 3-year-old child diagnosed with bilateral congenital severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss.

This achievement represents a significant milestone in advancing and strengthening pediatric hearing rehabilitation services at the institution.

The child, who had derived minimal benefit from conventional amplification devices, underwent a comprehensive pre-implantation workup including audiological, radiological, and speech-language assessments, following which the child was deemed suitable for bilateral cochlear implantation.

The surgery was performed under general anesthesia using advanced SmartNav(Smart Navigation) technology, which enables real-time intraoperative assessment of electrode placement and neural response telemetry, thereby improving surgical precision and long-term auditory outcomes.

The surgical team consisted of Dr Sunil Narayan Dutt, chief cochlear implant surgeon and senior consultant, Dr Sumit Kumar Gaur, senior consultant Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru; and Dr Deekshith Rajmohan, cochlear implant surgeon, anesthesia for the procedure was administered by Dr Mumtaz Ahmed, audiological and speech rehabilitation support was provided by Nimalka Sequeira, audiologist and speech language pathologist, Yenepoya Medical College Hospital.

The simultaneous bilateral implantation was completed successfully in a single surgical sitting without any intraoperative or immediate post-operative complications, allowing early binaural auditory stimulation and improved speech perception outcomes.

Post-operatively, the child is recovering well and will undergo implant activation ('switch-on') followed by structured mapping sessions and enrollment in an intensive Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) rehabilitation programme.

The department houses a state-of-the-art cochlear implant and Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) Centre dedicated exclusively to pediatric patients and has previously performed cochlear implant surgeries under various Government-supported schemes.

Chancellor Dr Yenepoya Abdulla Kunhi, pro-chancellor Farhaad Yenepoya, pro-chancellor Dr M Vijayakumar, vice chancellor Dr K S Gangadhara Somayaji and medical superintendent Dr Habib Rahaman expressed immense pride in this achievement.