BACKGROUND: gentamicin is an antibiotic that acts in Gram-negative bacilli infections, having as a side effect ototoxicity. Ototoxicity is an iatrogenic disturb provoked by drugs that modify the internal ear, affecting the cochlear and/or vestibular system and causing alterations in two important functions: equilibrium and audition. The main pediatric groups that receive aminoglicosides antibiotics are newborns who present serious infections in Neonate intensive care units. AIM: to verify the occurrence of external cilliary cells (ECC) caused by gentamicin with single dose schemas of 4mg/kg/day and 2,5mg/kg/day every 12 hours, through a morphological - scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and functional - distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) experimental study. METHOD: 26 albino guinea pigs were evaluated through DPOAE pre and post gentamicin treatment. The guinea pigs were sacrificed in the programmed time after the intramuscular administration of the drugs for anatomic analysis using MEV. RESULTS: the evaluation of the functional state of the ECC indicated preservation of the DPOAE in all of the guinea pigs. The SEM results, after being photographed were analyzed in terms of the number of the ECC in the cochlear basal turn in a specific photographic field. CONCLUSION: lesions or alterations in the functioning of the ECC of albino guinea-pigs after the use of 4mg/Kg/day and 2,5mg/Kg/day every 12 hours for a period 10 and 14 days were not observed.
Gentamicin; Electronic Microscopy; Ototoxicity