Journal Reviews
Single surgery for repair of tegmen defects and superior semicircular canal dehiscence
This retrospective review of 34 patients undergoing repair of the temporal bone defect via the middle cranial fossa approach provides the author’s management strategy for two problems: superior semicircular canal dehiscence and tegmen defects. The incidence of both these pathologies...
Paediatric versus adult pituitary adenomas
This retrospective study compares paediatric with adult patients undergoing pituitary adenoma surgery over a period of 26 years at a single institution. All surgeries were performed via a sublabial approach using the operating microscope. An endoscope was used occasionally for...
Peripheral nerve stimulation for chronic refractory pain
Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) plays an important role in treating chronic refractory pain syndromes that manifest in limited distributions and overlap with areas of neurologic innervation. The process is generally thought to capitalise on the inhibition and activation of pain-related...
Nasal dermoids
This article goes through the fairly specific and unique condition of paediatric midline nasal dermoids. It goes through the epidemiology and then the embryology, reminding the reader that a protrusion of dura extends from the anterior cranial fossa through the...
Understanding osseointegration for the otologist
Bone conduction implants are hearing devices that require osseointegration to create a stable and reliable interface between the hearing device and the skull to deliver sound to the cochlea. This article reviews the physiology of osseointegration, factors that may lead...
Sphenopalatine ganglion block in endoscopic sinus surgery reduces intra and post-operative morbidity
The authors present results of a meta-analysis to investigate the role of sphenopalatine ganglion block (SPGB) in reducing postoperative pain in endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). An electronic database search (Pubmed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, Embase, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled...
What we need to know about the new frontier of inner ear therapies
This is an interesting and topical review of the emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical solutions for hearing loss and related conditions such as tinnitus. This paper suggests we are on the cusp of a very large step-change in the way we...
Validating a new international cholesteatoma classification – a necessary but challenging task
A European and Japanese joint consensus statement was published in 2017 which proposed a new cholesteatoma staging classification (EJS), with four stages. This follow-up publication aims to assess the internal and external validity of the staging system using existing prospectively...
Cocaine detection hours after FESS
This is a very interesting article from Australia regarding the bioavailability of cocaine following atomised application prior to endoscopic sinus surgery. The well-established practice of preparing the nasal mucosa for sinus surgery involves the placement of a usually modified Moffett’s...
Nasal physiology and septal perforations
This interesting article from North Carolina and New York aims to assess the impact of anterior septal perforations on nasal physiology, using computational fluid dynamics and computer simulation. A computerised 3D model was constructed of a normal patient aged 37,...
What about the older adults?
The authors of this paper propose that significant changes in the delivery of services, including speech and language therapy management of swallowing difficulties, may be required. Among the most common causes of dysphagia in older adults are stroke, progressive neurological...
How many friends will you have after a TBI?
Friendships are key to reducing stress and improving morale and social support. Loss of friendships after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have a significant impact on these areas of a person’s life. There is little in the research literature...
