Journal Reviews archive for April 2020
Extracapsular dissection versus parotidectomy
This is a literature review of 16 papers using the PRISMA protocol. In comparing the two techniques, not surprisingly, they found that extracapsular dissection was associated with a reduced incidence of facial nerve paralysis and Frey’s syndrome and a shorter...
Bone thickness and split pattern in mandibular osteotomies
This paper looked at 63 sagittal split ramus osteotomy sites. The type of split was classified according to the Plooij paper and bone measurements were taken at four sites. Of these sites, the thickness of the bone in one point,...
The effects of paediatric tracheostomy
Paediatric tracheostomy is usually an essential procedure to preserve life, or to allow a patient to function in the community. However, the effect of tracheostomy on the developing child - care requirements, lack of voice, impaired swallow, constant risk of...
What the people want and need: emerging service for communication needs in Ghana
There is a significant shortfall in rehabilitation service for people with communication difficulties across Majority World countries. It is known that many people in these countries are likely to seek help from a variety of sectors including western healthcare, religious...
Doing it for the men: diversifying the speech and language therapy profession
It is known that many health professions are dominated by females, particularly the allied health professions, such as speech and language therapy. This is more pronounced in the US than in the UK, Australia and other countries. The authors of...
Prediction of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing thyroid or parathyroid surgery
Major postoperative adverse events in thyroid or parathyroid surgery are uncommon. Various authors have developed risk indices to identify physical deficits in patients undergoing elective surgery. The literature is less clear about patients undergoing thyroid or parathyroid surgery. In this...
Thyroidectomy patient survey regarding voice outcomes
One of the common adverse effects following thyroid surgery is a change in voice, which may be related to iatrogenic injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve or superior laryngeal nerve during surgery or by direct cancer involvement. The burden of...
A safe and useful surgical procedure for allergic rhinitis?
Although the best management of allergic rhinitis is medical, intractable cases are not uncommon. Immunotherapy helps but is more practical if there is a single allergen involved. The authors compare the effects of submucosal inferior turbinoplasty alone with submucosal turbinoplasty...
A cost reducing protocol for magnetic resonance imaging in patients suspected to have acoustic neuroma
Magnetic resonance imaging is the ‘gold standard’ for screening patients suspected to have an acoustic neuroma. However, inappropriate referrals for imaging are not helpful, especially with the growing need to reduce costs. In this study the authors compared two audit...
Canal plugging for intractable Meniere’s disease
In this single centre retrospective study, the authors applied semicircular canal plugging, well known as a treatment for refractory BPPV, to intractable unilateral Meniere’s disease (MD) that had failed to respond to medical treatment with betahistine and hydrochlorothiazide. However, in...
Microvascular free flap failures – looking beyond surgical technique
Microvascular free flaps are commonly used in reconstruction for head and neck defects. Failures of these flaps, however, are associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. Flap failures within the first 72 hours are commonly attributed to technical failure of...
Is there a need for magnetic resonance imaging six-month post-radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma?
With advances in imaging and radiation technologies, small, slowly growing vestibular schwannomas (VS) are treated primarily with either observation or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Routine magnetic resonance (MRI) scans with gadolinium are obtained six months and one year after SRS in...
