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Smoking and immunotherapy – does it worsen outcome?
This interesting study aimed to address the issue of smoking in patients who had their allergic rhinits treated by sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). Assessment was with validated quality of life questionnaires. There were 163 patients recruited in Greece who had completed...
Leisure listening does not affect the hearing of young people
The existing literature highlights concerns regarding the possibility of leisure activities involving listening to music on portable music players causing hearing loss. However, there is much speculation regarding actual effect. This article outlines a project involving young persons aged between...
A spoonful of sugar… helps the operated sinuses calm down?
Ottoviano et al. present a prospective double-blinded RCT to assess the effect of a nasal gel containing silver sucrose octasulfate (Silsos Gel) on wound healing after endoscopic sinus surgery. The placebo used was a glycol gel. Thirty-four consecutive patients were...
Risk factors for post laryngectomy fistula
This is a meta-analysis looking at the postoperative pharyngocutaneous fistula rates following total laryngectomy. The authors ended up with 34 studies with about 2500 patients. The most striking finding was that preoperative radiotherapy was a significant risk factor as well...
Assessment of the incidence of LPR in the Greek population using the Reflux Symptom Index
Using the self-administered nine-item Belafsky Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) questionnaire, the authors of this article assessed the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in the general adult Greek population as well as predisposing and associated factors for developing LPR. They found...
Is major ear surgery financially viable?
It is difficult to ignore the present reality in the NHS that understanding clinical coding is perhaps of more relevance to the practising clinician than the human genome! Clinician engagement is becoming more essential to protect patient care and maximise...
The perils of poor postop blood pressure control
This retrospective case control study reviews 621 patients undergoing thyroid surgery over a 10-year period from 2002-2012 looking at postoperative haemorrhage rates. This potentially catastrophic complication warrants close analysis in order to best discern how it can be minimised. The...
Hearing preservation and device benefit following implantation of short or hybrid electrodes
Hybrid or short electrodes have increasingly been used in the literature in order to combine electrical with hearing-aid stimulation. However, hearing preservation of the residual low-frequencies are of utmost importance in this attempt. The present study compared hearing preservation and...
Infant mental health and hearing loss
This interesting editorial explores an aspect in the field of research dedicated to promoting healthy social and emotional development and the prevention and treatment of mental health problems in very young children. Since babies learn through primary attachment relationships with...
Reducing readmission rates after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery
This retrospective study provides an outpatient care pathway to screen and manage delayed hyponatremia which the study identified as the primary cause of readmission following transsphenoidal pituitary surgery. Of the 303 patients who were studied, 27 were readmitted within 30...
The increasingly favourable outcomes from endoscopic endonasal approaches for the management of pituitary adenomas
Historically, pituitary tumours have been surgically managed with an open, transcranial approach. Although this approach still has its merits in large intracranial adenomas, technological advancement has allowed smaller tumours to be debulked via a transseptal microscopic technique. These days, the...
