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Tinnitus in children

This is a review article about the management of tinnitus in children. In the end the authors came up with just three papers that made the grade. Maybe the most interesting finding was from Vianni in the JLO in 1989....

Power tools dance off

The use of the harmonic scalpel is popular with some head and neck surgeons. This study looked at selective neck dissections for 40 patients with oral cavity carcinoma. They were randomised into harmonic scalpel (HS) use and monopolar electrocautery. The...

High definition tractography to identify cranial nerves

It has always been challenging to visualise cranial nerves on traditional imaging as the cranial nerves have a fine structure and complex anatomy. This is especially true regarding the cochlear nerve. In congenitally hearing impaired children, the visualisation of the...

Full Vs tapered dose of oral prednisolone for sudden sensorineural hearing loss

I was drawn in by the title of this article, in the expectation that it might be a randomised controlled trial, but it was not. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is an uncommon condition, which has a potentially disastrous outcome, so...

To montelukast or not to montelukast

Both histamine and cysteinyl leukotrienes play an important role in both seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (SARC) and asthma. A combination therapy against both was shown to give benefit both in vitro and in vivo. Authors wanted to test the efficacy of...

Is virtual reality the future of vestibular rehabilitation?

The use of virtual reality (VR) in vestibular rehabilitation is gaining some popularity but availability is hampered by cost. One VR system in use in some centres is the Hybrid VR unit which incorporates motion trackers and force platforms. This...

Surgical management of permanent facial paralysis

This article explores the management of flaccid facial palsy focusing on weakness less than one to two years’ duration. As a general rule, primary nerve repair produces the best outcome and should be performed where possible. For long-standing paralysis of...

Hilotherapy for facial surgery patients?

Hilotherapy involves administering regulated cold compression through a facemask. The principle of this treatment involves cyotherapy as a traditional treatment for reducing inflammation, pain and swelling following trauma. It is believed that using hilotherapy (Hilotherm®), which uses a mask to...

Olfactory ensheathing cells and their safe harvest

This interesting and unique paper not only demonstrates that biopsy of olfactory mucosa in the region of the superior turbinate is a safe procedure but also provides valuable insight into an engaging area of research by a world class team...

Facial reconstruction with polyethylene implants

Planning reconstructive surgery for complex craniofacial defects challenges even the most experienced of surgeons. In most cases surgery is undertaken to improve anatomical functioning. However the anatomical structure of these regions is also critical to facial aesthetics and patient satisfaction...

When should that child’s wet ear be operated on?

The team from Birmingham have provided a meta-analysis to answer the question of when to perform a type 1 tympanoplasty on chronic paediatric perforations (under 18 year olds). Forty-five studies were included which resulted in 2609 cases. Closure rate at...