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Treating benign positional paroxysmal vertigo

Benign positional paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of dizziness. Its treatment is the repositioning of displaced otoliths by the canalith repositioning manoeuvre (CRM). Post manoeuvre restrictions are commonly given to the patient. Their benefit has...

Chronic facial pain: types and long-term treatment

This publication discusses the details and differences between chronic tension type headache and migraine and followed a cohort of 240 patients over 36 months. The authors applied strict criteria to distinguish between chronic tension headache and migraine, these essentially being...

Benign oesophageal strictures: overview and management strategies

Benign oesophageal strictures may have several attributable causes including caustic injuries, long-term acid reflux, eosinophilic oesophagitis, anastomotic strictures and endoscopic therapy. Endoscopic dilation via bougies or balloon dilators may treat most strictures successfully and satisfactorily. However, in some situations treatment...

Does vestibular rehabilitation help patients with vestibular migraine? Is this also true if these patients have had a traumatic brain injury?

Vestibular migraine (VM) is a common diagnosis in ENT, and there is growing evidence that vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is an effective treatment, reducing self-perceived dizziness and improving gait. This is a retrospective review of the outcomes of 93 patients...

An advance in imaging for sinonasal tumours?

Benign sinonasal growths are incredibly common, and malignant sinonasal growths thankfully rare. We know that malignant tumours often present late, and the imaging can sometimes be misleading, so the authors here compare using diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), dynamic contrast enhanced...

Corticosteroid prescribing in ENT - are we at risk of being sued?

Of medications leading to malpractice claims, corticosteroids comprise the third most common. They are used widely and have a significant side-effect profile: hypertension, lipodystrophy, diabetes, avascular necrosis of the femoral head, peptic ulceration and psychiatric reactions to name but a...

Argon plasma coagulation for epistaxis in HHT

In this study from the Czech Republic, the authors looked at the effectiveness of argon plasma coagulation (a non-contact form of monopolar electrocoagulation) in treating recurrent epistaxis in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). The advantage of argon plasma coagulation...

Nasal polyps, does size matter?

This study from Germany investigates the correlation between nasal polyp size and return of olfactory function following endoscopic sinus surgery. Olfaction is affected more in patients with CRSwNP than with CRSsNP and the best chance of smell recovery occurs in...

Does endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis improve COPD?

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) can be associated with asthma, with a reported frequency of asthma in patients with CRS of up to 44%. COPD is another lung condition that can be associated with CRS. This longitudinal study reviewed the nasal and...

Does pollution worsen inflammatory nasal problems?

This ambitious study, conducted over a period of four years, assessed 27,863 patients and compared levels of allergic rhinitis (AR) or chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with the levels of air pollution recorded, as assessed by levels of particulate matter (PM10). They...

Can SNOT-22 predict the need for surgery?

In this prospective Belgian study, the authors looked at whether the baseline Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) was able to predict the need for surgery and localise the pathology of rhinology patients and healthy volunteers. A total of 66 healthy volunteers...