Key points:
  1. Hearing loss is a major adverse effect of the treatment of an NPC patient and cochlear implantation is an effective method for the recovery of the hearing of patients suffering from severe to profound hearing loss.
  2. This is the first study applying multidisciplinary team method to face the long-term complications after chemoradiotherapy for NPC patients, including limitation of the mouth opening, caused by temporomandibular joint dysfunction, osteoradionecrosis of the temporal bone, chronic otitis media and radioactive encephalopathy.
  3. Our study showed that MDT has an important role in the whole process of diagnosis and treatment, which can rapidly reduce the perioperative risk, effectively predict the postoperative auditory effect, and prevent the occurrence of postoperative complications.
  4. Based on the results of the MDT discussion, surgeons employed different operative approaches depending on the patient’s situation, including the extent of ORNTB and the intactness of tympanic membrane.
  5. Our study showed that the application of CI in patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy for NPC is relatively safe and feasible.