Journal Reviews archive for 2025
To pack or not to pack!
Ear packing is thought to support grafts, control bleeding and facilitate healing. However, it is not without complications such as fibrosis and infection. The authors aimed at investigating the effect of middle ear packing on graft success rate in myringoplasty...
How good is secondary intention healing post nasal cutaneous tumour excision?
The variation in size and site of nasal cutaneous tumours allows the surgeon to propose various methods to close the resulting defect post-tumour excision. This prospective multicentre cohort study executed in China encompassed 150 patients, comparing wound healing times and...
Update on cholesteatoma
Surgery for cholesteatoma should be tailored to individual patients, considering patient and disease factors, to obtain a dry, safe and functional ear. In this article, the authors discuss the current definitions and classification system of middle ear cholesteatoma, as well...
Chronic rhinosinusitis update
There is still a lack of awareness of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) despite its burden, calling for events such as the recent Global Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (CRSwNP) Awareness Day. Research findings from recent publications by Backaert et al have...
Invest in parents: motivation is key
Home practice is a key component in promoting generalisation of what is learned in speech and language therapy sessions to the real world. Yet time constraints, stress, ambivalence toward practice and increased care demands when a child has a disability...
AI in ENT practice
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent in our lives and there has been both enthusiasm and caution for using AI in healthcare. A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on a trial examining...
Outcomes of office-based biopsies for laryngopharyngeal carcinoma – faster diagnoses and equivalent oncological outcomes as compared to biopsies under general anaesthesia
Patients in the UK with head and neck cancers are the most likely to face long waits to treatment in comparison to other cancer sites, with only just over half commencing treatment within 62 days of being referred on a...
A useful adjuvant treatment for SNAC or IP
5-Fluorouracil (5FU) is a topical preparation used in the treatment of various dermatological, ocular and gynaecologic malignant and pre-malignant conditions, and this literature review looks at the efficacy of 5FU in treating inverted papilloma and sinonasal tumours. The authors cite...
Intra orbital treatment to save the eye!
Invasive fungal sinusitis can be a devastating condition, and accepted management is surgical debridement of infected tissue, systemic antifungal treatment and reversal of immunosuppression. Orbital involvement is common, affecting up to 75% of cases, and in advanced disease orbital exenteration...
Sleep apnoea got your heart in your throat? Perhaps it’s time to ditch the CPAP and fetch the scalpel
The link between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is clear. Its well-established association with essential hypertension is thought to link OSA to an increased risk of atherosclerotic and hypertensive sequelae. However, data on the long-term impact of...
Audiometric and Quality of Life comparison between Bonebridge® and Osia®
Bone conduction implants are an alternative to hearing aids for varying reasons. Both Bonebridge® and Osia® are transcutaneous devices maintaining intact skin, establishing a connection between the implanted device and external processor through a magnetic system. Both are described as...
Older patients hospitalised for pneumonia: what factors determine survival after discharge?
A high proportion of older adults hospitalised for pneumonia may have co-existing risk of aspiration due to dysphagia. The authors of this single-centre retrospective cohort study followed up patients over the age of 65 who were admitted to hospital with...