GRH doctors perform cochlear implant surgery on 238 children in nine years

The Hindu

03-06-2025

A total of 238 children have successfully undergone cochlear implant surgery at Government Rajaji Hospital here in the last nine years, a Right to Information Act reply has revealed.
According to A. Veronica Mary, a Madurai-based social activist, who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court seeking cochlear implant surgery at GRH, said that the surgery would at least cost ₹10 lakh if done in a private hospital.
As the procedure involves surgically inserting an electronic device into the inner ear (cochlea) to restore hearing for individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, it would be great help for children who have lost hearing in the birth or during their childhood, she added.
The court, learning of its importance, that too in a government hospital in a place like Madurai, which could serve many children from rural areas across the district and many southern districts, ordered the government to consider providing the surgery at GRH, said Ms. Veronica Mary.
Following that, in 2016, the surgery was successfully conducted on two children at GRH. And, in that year itself, an additional 34 children benefited from the procedure, she stated.
The RTI, which was sought to learn about the success rate of the surgery in the hospital, has shown how it has been benefiting the children from the district and other nearby areas, she added.
Further, she noted that though the number of surgeries has seen a downfall in years between, it had still helped a total of 228 children.
The surgery, which has been rendered to 36 people in 2016, has been done to 25 in 2017, 32 in 2018, 39 in 2019, 8 in 2020, 23 in 2021, 38 in 2022, 16 in 2023, 10 in 2024 and one in 2025, the RTI data said.
As about two in 1,000 children are congenitally affected with hearing loss in the country, as per the available studies, A. Alaguvadivel, Professor and Head of ENT department, Madurai Medical College, said that the treatment was essential and helpful for them.
The procedure could be done only within 2-6 years, he said. Many parents, especially from rural areas, were hesitant to opt for surgery to address the issue, but by the time they were convinced for the surgery most of the children would have cross the age limit, he noted.
People think of hearing aid as a potential option, but the accuracy achieved through surgery could not be expected from a hearing aid, Dr. Alaguvadivel said.
Further, post-surgery, the children would have to undergo Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT), to attain the full benefit of the surgery, he added.
While they would be asked to visit the hospital at least twice a week for two years for the therapy after the surgery, many would not continue with the therapy. Due to that, the full benefit could be experienced by the children, he added.
Many were hesitant to undergo the surgery due to the practical complications attached with the procedure, but he noted that the doctors, after identifying the issue during the screening which would be done following the birth, would elaborate the parents on the perks of undergoing the surgery.
L. Arul Sundaresh Kumar, Dean, GRH, said, 'The surgery was just 40% of the treatment, the rest lies in the hands of the parents who train them and bring them to the hospital for auditory visual therapy.'
'There has been a paradigm shift in the availability of options of communication for people with hearing problems. While it started with just a sign language as a means of communication, it had evolved to the level of surgery and also therapies,' he added.
As the equipment used in surgery was same for all people, the success depends on the post-surgery therapy for language understanding, Dr. Arul Sundaresh Kumar said.