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Pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy

Pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) after total laryngectomy is a serious complication post-surgery, and can lead to prolonged hospitalisation, adding delays in postoperative chemoradiotherapy. This Turkish retrospective study looked at 166 patients who underwent total laryngectomy for laryngeal cancer, although it is...

Do implants assist rehabilitation following mandibular reconstruction?

When undertaking mandibular reconstruction, optimal function and aesthetic rehabilitation is the goal. There is no doubt that patients consider chewing, swallowing and speech to be of paramount importance. Following surgery, suboptimal rehabilitation leads to a fall in quality of life...

How to increase uptake of hearing screening in primary care

Untreated hearing loss leads to an increased risk of dementia and depression. There is currently little evidence to support the benefits of hearing screening in asymptomatic older adults. The main aim of the study was to compare three hearing screening...

Maternal angst

This paper confirms the anxiety that a mother experiences when their child undergoes surgery. The paper focuses on adenoidectomy and adenotonsillectomy for moderate to severe upper airway obstruction showing admirably how anxiety reduces following surgery. The authors recruited 66 mothers...

Which is worse – unilateral or bilateral tinnitus?

Few studies have analysed subjective aspects of tinnitus or the association between clinical characteristics and the directionality of tinnitus. The study subjects comprised 207 patients who presented with tinnitus over two years and underwent tinnitus-related physical examinations and tinnitograms (includes...

Hearing intervention to prevent dementia

People with hearing impairment have an increased risk of incident all-cause dementia proportional to the severity of loss compared to those with normal hearing. Treating hearing impairment may therefore serve to slow or prevent the onset of cognitive decline. This...

Smell and mental health

This national survey from Korea asked questions about many aspects of health and one of these was about sense of smell. The prevalence of olfactory problems was 5% in the adult group surveyed, and other studies would suggest that this...

2020 Lancet Commission on dementia: a call to action for integrated hearing healthcare

Dr Georgiou’s summary of the 2020 update to the 2017 Lancet Commission underscores the importance of medical and hearing healthcare professionals working together to tackle the modifiable risk factors that affect individuals throughout their lives, to help delay or even...

Cancer genetics and signalling pathways in ENT – a review and discussion of how this can be applied to rare tumours

Introduction Cancer cases continue to increase worldwide, and­­ head and neck cancer is a major global health issue, with an estimated global burden of over 630,000 new cases and over 350,000 deaths per year [1]. The term ‘head and neck...

Mentally and physically safe workplaces: the challenge of doctors’ well-being

Our ENT consultant colleague Eric Levi bravely tackles the very real elephant in the room of that stigma which is not really discussed until it is often too late. It takes courage to tackle a difficult topic like doctors’ mental...

Temporal bone trauma

Introduction Temporal bone injuries represent one of the more complex management problems presenting to the otolaryngologist. This is largely due to difficulties in assessment and the frequent delays in referral, often as a result of other injuries demanding more immediate...

Do personal listening devices cause cochlear synaptopathy?

Cochlear synaptopathy is a condition in which noise interrupts the synaptic communication between sensory inner hair cells and low spontaneous rate cochlear nerve fibres. Since these nerve fibres are associated with signal coding in noisy backgrounds, their disruption leads to...