Journal Reviews
Microsurgical trainees to avoid strenuous exercises?
It is commonly believed among microsurgeons that over-exertion can impair microsurgical performance. The authors aimed to investigate if they could prove this theory and compared the performance of medical students, postgraduate trainees and expert controls who were microsurgery tutors. A...
Sinus surgery effects on asthma patients
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and asthma are related. The authors identified a gap in the literature and designed this study with a relatively large sample size of 86 patients. They included patients with comorbid asthma and CRS with or without polyps...
Paediatric pituitary surgery - is it lagging behind?
Endoscopic sellar surgery, especially for adenomas, is a relatively safe, straightforward surgery with (mostly) reproducible results and few complications. However, the evolution of pituitary surgery was a long process, starting from open/transfrontal approaches all the way to transsphenoid to the...
Tissue engineered flaps
This article provides a thorough summary of the current techniques available in head and neck reconstruction. It details the challenge of restoration of form and function posed by the shape of the craniofacial skeleton and soft tissue. The introduction on...
Another paper advocating resection templates
Resection in the head and neck region leads to complex defects with significant impairment in function. Reconstruction is even more difficult and to improve the accuracy of both resection and reconstruction a number of aids are used. With the improved...
Minimal or not so minimal?
Parathyroidectomy is usually a straightforward technique when the target gland has been accurately determined. Surgical excision is usually through a small midline incision. With the advent of video assisted surgery, trials have been made to use this technique in parathyroidectomy....
Parathyroid pearls
This article serves to deliver some pearls of wisdom in parathyroid surgery for the ‘low volume parathyroid surgeon’. They have been divided into those relating to the preoperative diagnosis, imaging and localisation techniques and surgical difficulties. Recognised sources of error...
What is the optimum duration of voice rest after microlaryngoscopy procedures?
Recent survey data looking at the opinions and practices of otolaryngologists in the US and the UK demonstrate that there is a wide variation in recommendations made for voice rest after vocal fold surgery. In the US, the most common...
Playing hide and seek with parathyroid glands
This article focuses on revision surgery with respect to parathyroid glands. Clearly the stakes are higher with respect to the patients’ risks, but also with respect to the revision surgeon in finding the offending gland in scar tissue, where someone...
Hilotherapy for facial surgery patients?
Hilotherapy involves administering regulated cold compression through a facemask. The principle of this treatment involves cyotherapy as a traditional treatment for reducing inflammation, pain and swelling following trauma. It is believed that using hilotherapy (Hilotherm®), which uses a mask to...
Money saving using CAD-CAM in mandibular reconstruction
CAD-CAM (computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing) is an exciting field in the functional and accurate reconstruction of oral cavity defects. This is a prospective study from Italy based on data from 20 consecutive mandibular reconstructions from 2011 to...
Do tonsillotomies have a higher revision rate than tonsillectomies?
Tonsillotomies have gained popular acceptance in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in recent years. Short-term advantages that have been shown in the literature include lower haemorrhage rates, shorter operation times and less pain. Evidence for long-term effects are sparse due...
