Journal Reviews
Safety recommendations for ENT surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic
Physicians and other healthcare workers who perform and participate in examinations and procedures within the head and neck region and airway are at particularly high risk of exposure and infection from aerosol and droplet contamination. Authors have developed recommendations to...
Thyroidectomy and hypnosis
This is a retrospective study comparing thyroidectomy under conventional general anaesthesia and surgery under hypnosis. Patients are interviewed and evaluated before the surgery and the process explained. During the surgery, they are induced into a hypnotic trance in a controlled...
Laryngopharyngeal reflux - would mucolytics help?
With laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) being such a common presenting complaint to ENT clinics, who would not want to have more, effective treatment options for patients suffering with this annoying condition? In their small randomised, controlled trial, Chae et al put...
Quality of life in adolescence
Adolescence can be a difficult time and the added complexity of a hearing loss can exacerbate feelings during this period. In the literature, there are mixed findings that show while some children with hearing loss score poorly on some aspects...
Do we need contrast MRI when screening for vestibular schwannoma?
Gadolinium contrast enhanced T1-weighted (gT1w) MRI images of the internal acoustic meati have long been considered the gold standard in the diagnosis of vestibular schwannoma (VS). However, the addition of contrast to the MRI examination increases the cost and time...
Does minimally invasive surgery under local anaesthesia have a role in the management of chronic rhinusinusitis?
A formal FESS procedure usually done under local anaesthesia is considered as gold standard in the management of chronic rhinusinusitis. However, success is hampered by a significant recurrence rate of polyps requiring revision surgery, long waiting lists, reluctance of elderly...
Speech analysis via mobile phone – is there an app for that?
Experienced ENT surgeons will often be able to discern the likelihood of significant laryngeal pathology in a patient referred with dysphonia by the sound of their voice during the initial history-taking phase of a consultation. With the move earlier in...
How has management and outcomes of necrotising otitis externa changed over the past decade?
Necrotising otitis externa (NOE) remains a challenging condition for ENT departments, particularly with the increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the general population. There is no international consensus on treatment, although many institutions now have local guidelines drawn up...
Sinus airflow after FESS using models and fluid dynamics
This is a very interesting study from Australia and New Zealand looking at flow of air into the nose and sinuses after FESS surgery. There is plenty of data regarding computational fluid dynamics for preoperative cases but not much for...
Dead regions in patients with cochlear implants
The very nature of a dead region (DR) in a cochlea means that they are often found in patients who are eligible for cochlear implants. However, a variety of different hearing configurations are found in those with DRs because of...
Horizontal canal PPV: is Gufoni manoeuvre better than barbecue manoeuvre?
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common kind of vertigo that we come across in our out-patient clinic. Horizontal canal BPPV (HC-BPPV) accounts for 10–30% of total BPPV. Two techniques, namely Guffoni and barbecue roll manoeuvres, are generally...
Quality of life in children following balloon Eustachian tuboplasty
This study aimed to demonstrate the efficacy of balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET) in children by assessing their quality of life with the Otitis Media-6 questionnaire (OM-6). The OM-6 questionnaire is the most frequently used instrument to measure health-related quality of...
