Pioneering surgery at Kopernik hospital: 10-month-old Witek receives two cochlear implants at once

In brief

• Surgeons in Gdańsk performed the first simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation in Pomerania on a 10-month-old boy.
• The child was born deaf, and the condition was detected through newborn hearing screening.
• The operation took place on 21 October, and the boy was discharged on the third day after surgery.

First operation of its kind in Pomerania

Surgeons from the Clinical Department of Otolaryngology at the Mikołaj Kopernik Hospital in Gdańsk implanted cochlear devices in both ears of a 10-month-old boy in a single procedure. The operation was carried out on Wednesday, 21 October, and it is the first such case in the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Pierwsza na Pomorzu obustronna jednoczesna implantacja ślimakowa u niemowlęcia | Dziennik Bałtycki – dziennikbaltycki.pl) (Pierwsza taka operacja na Pomorzu. Zmieni życie niemowlęcia - Radio Gdańsk – radiogdansk.pl) (Dwa implanty ślimakowe podczas jednej operacji. Pierwszy taki zabieg na Pomorzu u niemowlęcia – rynekzdrowia.pl) (To pierwsza taka operacja przeprowadzona na Pomorzu. Pacjentem był 10-miesięczny chłopiec – nadmorski24.pl) (Pionierski zabieg w „Koperniku”. Witkowi wszczepiono dwa implanty ślimakowe – Urząd Marszałkowski Województwa Pomorskiego). In Poland, surgeons usually implant one ear first and the other later, so the simultaneous approach was a departure from the typical sequence.

Early detection made the difference

The child was born with congenital hearing loss in both ears. It was identified in the first days of life through universal newborn hearing screening. Because infants cannot tell parents they are not hearing sounds, early diagnosis is considered essential for children in this situation.

How the implant works

A cochlear implant has two parts. The internal component is placed inside the inner ear, in the cochlea. The external part is switched on about a month after surgery and picks up sounds from the environment, passing them to the implanted element. Doctors describe bilateral implantation in young children as the current global standard for treating congenital deafness in both ears.

Discharge and follow-up

The boy left the hospital on the third day after the procedure. The operation was performed as part of a regional programme for cochlear implants in Pomerania.