AUTHOR=Londero Alain , Charpentier Nicolas , Ponsot Damien , Fournier Philippe , Pezard Laurent , Noreña Arnaud J. 

TITLE=A Case of Acoustic Shock with Post-trauma Trigeminal-Autonomic Activation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2017.00420

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2017.00420

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=<p>This study reports the case of an acoustic shock injury (ASI), which did not result in a significant hearing loss, but was followed by manifold chronic symptoms both within (tinnitus, otalgia, tingling in the ear, tension in the ear, and red tympanum) and outside the ears (blocked nose, pain in the neck/temporal region). We suggest that these symptoms may result from a loop involving injury to middle ear muscles, peripheral inflammatory processes, activation and sensitization of the trigeminal nerve, the autonomic nervous system, and central feedbacks. The pathophysiology of this ASI is reminiscent of that observed in post-traumatic trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgia. This framework opens new and promising perspectives on the understanding and medical management of ASI.</p>