Search

DISE as a rationalising tool for sleep apnoea surgery

This retrospective study on 85 adult obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients provides further interesting information for sleep surgeons. These patients were all investigated with polysomnography (PSG) and drug induced sleep endoscopy (DISE). They all then underwent a simple uvulopalatoplasty with...

Is there a role for facial nerve decompression in Ramsay Hunt syndrome?

This is an interesting paper. The authors recommend a transmastoid facial decompression for patients with complete facial nerve paralysis with House Brackman HB 5/6 who do not show any sign of recovery after two weeks of treatment following a diagnosis...

Does Tranexamic acid reduce intraoperative bleeding during FESS?

Intraoperative bleeding during FESS can reduce visibility and obscure important landmarks. This can result in longer operative times, increase risks of complications and even lead to incomplete surgery. Tranexamic acid is a drug which prevents fibrinolysis and stabilises blood clots....

Are ENT surgeons better placed to perform cosmetic ear, nasal and facial procedures?

Cosmetic surgery is an essential component of plastic surgery training and is required in order to CCT. However, the training opportunities in plastic surgery in UK are limited. The current operative requirements for plastic surgery trainees are 100 procedures during...

Grading dysphagia as a toxicity in treating head and neck cancer

Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) is a system used by clinicians to grade the toxicity of oncology treatments in a standardised manner. Dysphagia is perhaps the most common long-term toxicity of head and neck cancer treatment. Currently, a...

Can tympanometry be used to diagnose Ménière’s disease?

The authors proposed multifrequency tympanometry (MFT) as an in-office test which may be able to diagnose Ménière’s disease (MD) that is quicker and more cost-effective than other methods. MFT measures the acoustic admittance of the middle ear and external ear...

The hot nose

Capsaicin nasal spray can offer moderate to significant symptomatic relief to 70-80% of patients with idiopathic rhinitis (IR). Efficacy was also shown in lab studies. Nasal hyper reactivity (NHR), absence of allergy / infective rhinosinusitis, age limits (18-60), no anatomical...

Allergen immunotherapy and allergic rhinitis – EAACI guideline 2017

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common chronic childhood disease with considerable social burden and impact on quality of life, frequently necessitating treatment with various combinations of antihistamines and corticosteroids. The allergen immunotherapy (AIT), sometimes known as desensitisation therapy, can modify...

Prostaglandin versus leukotriene receptor-antagonists in treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis RCT phase II

Seasonal allergic rhinitis is very common. Failure to control the disease with mono-therapy leads to dual therapy treatment with less compliance and reduced quality of life. A prostaglandin receptor antagonist (ONO-4053) showed some efficacy in controlling allergic rhinitis in animal...

Which technique is better for turbinate reduction: surgical turbinoplasty or radiofrequency ablation?

Turbinate hypertrophy; radiofrequency; surgical turbinoplasty; visual analogue score

Post-operative tonsillectomy bleeding with a normal clinical exam

Tonsillectomy is amongst the most common surgical procedures performed across the western world. For patients who report bleeding post-tonsillectomy, but have no clinical findings on examination, the management can be unclear. The accepted current management in most centres would be...