Medical, surgical, and technical complications with the COMBI-40.

We present the first report on complications of cochlear implantation with the COMBI-40 (Med-el, Innsbruck, Austria). Between January 1995 and May 1996 325 devices had been implanted by 58 different surgeons. Complications were reported with the help of standardized complication report form. The overall rate of complications was 4.6%. Most common problems were flap necrosis and incorrect positioning of the electrode. No technical failures occurred. The incidence of complications was lower than those reported by other authors.