You searched for "preoperative"
Objective testing for Eustachian tube dysfunction
Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) is typically diagnosed based on subjective symptoms and examination leading to wide variation in its diagnosis and management. The search for an objective test has looked at ways of measuring the passage of air through the...
Reduce medical errors by improving communication: supporting vulnerable people
This article starts by emphasising that communication failures are a fairly common cause of medical errors. They highlight that people with dysarthria can experience significant communication difficulties and are at particular risk of this type of breakdown in care. People...
Poor allergic rhinitis control increases the overall costs
Allergic rhinitis and asthma are common and can have significant effects on quality of life. However, not many studies have focused on the economic effects. The authors of this study performed a large-scale (over 60,000 patients) observational study to analyse...
EMG and unilateral vocal fold palsy
The authors studied the diagnostic and prognostic value of laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) in adults with unilateral vocal fold palsy. The study included 61 patients who were tested on average seven months after their palsy (4-11 months). In most cases the...
Single sided deafness and cochlear implants
Cochlear implants (CI) can restore hearing in the profoundly deaf ear. Risk/ benefit and cost considerations dictate strict criteria that must be met for patients to be eligible. People with single-sided deafness are not eligible to receive a cochlear implant...
Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea hypopneoa syndrome (OSAHS) without sleep studies
Polysomnography is considered the ‘gold standard’ in the diagnosis of sleep apnoea but it is expensive and difficult to perform in children. Diagnosis based on subjective judgement is often inaccurate. An accurate diagnostic scale based on clinical parameters could obviate...
Does endoscopic tympanoplasty give better results than a conventional approach?
This is a retrospective review looking at two groups of patients who had undergone middle ear surgery for chronic otitis media (perforation, retraction pocket/cholesteatoma) either open or endoscopic. Four hundred and five patients underwent open ear surgery and 501 endoscopic,...
Increased intensity of treatment: intensity does not improve outcomes
There is a paucity of reports regarding the intensity and appropriate duration of treatment required to improve the language abilities of children with language impairment. This study used direct measures such as the time spent on language, the frequency, number...
From clinical to academic – intervention research in SLT
There are many different research methods and designs that can be used to test the effectiveness of speech and language interventions. This article aims to describe those methods relevant to speech and language therapists working with a range of clients....
‘Close’ surgical margin in oral tongue redefined, 2.3mm is as good as 5mm
Gold standard treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral tongue remains surgical resection of the primary tumour with negative margins. The primary goal is the complete excision of the tumour with no residual cancer cells left behind. A...
Surgery for snoring
The prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing is rapidly increasing. There is variable evidence for surgical treatments for snoring currently. This Belgian study was a retrospective review of 84 patients who underwent surgery for snoring between May 2011 and December 2015. A...
