You searched for "complications"
Pre-habilitation in head and neck cancer – a literature review to guide best practice
Curative treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) often requires surgery; however, outcomes are impacted by the complexity of the surgery and the patient population. Increasingly ‘Enhanced Recovery After Surgery’ (ERAS) protocols are being used to maximise patient outcomes and...
Carotid artery involvement with head and neck metastases
This is a retrospective review of 27 patients radiologically diagnosed as having metastases involving the common or internal carotid arteries. All patients underwent a salvage neck dissection with surgical carotid peeling. Thirteen of the 27 achieved loco-regional control, five developed...
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...
Risk factors for pharyngocutaneous fistula after laryngectomy
Pharyngocutaneous or salivary fistula is a feared complication following laryngectomy, causing significant morbidity, prolonged hospital inpatient stay / cost and mortality. Previous radiotherapy / chemoradiotherapy is a well recognised risk factor and leads many surgeons to recommend onlay pectoralis major...
Righting the paralysed lip
Many surgical procedures that otolaryngologists perform put the facial nerve at risk of injury, a complication that the surgeon and patient fear alike. Unfortunately, injuries to the nerve can and do happen despite adequate precautions, and facial paralysis may be...
Acute mastoiditis pre- and post-Covid-19 pandemic
This retrospective single centre study evaluated the influence of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) like use of face masks, hand hygiene, and contact restrictions on the incidence and severity of acute mastoiditis during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study collected data of acute...
Nasal deformity following CPAP injury
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) is commonly used as a non-invasive alternative to endotracheal intubation and tracheotomy to provide respiratory support to very low birth weight (VLBW) (<1500 g) neonates. Nasal injury is a well recognised complication and figures...
Surgery for drooling
This paper looks at the surgical options for sialorrhoea once the first two options of behavioural and physiotherapy interventions and pharmacotherapy have been exhausted. The social impact of sialorrhoea on patients and their families is significant and often lifelong therefore...
People with dementia and their families want to see speech and language therapists!
Language and communication difficulties are common in Alzheimer’s disease and, of course, language-led dementia (primary progressive aphasia). Communication difficulties are highlighted as one of the biggest burdens for family members caring for loved ones with dementia. This is often associated...
Importance of face-to-face communication in clinical practice
Breakdowns in communication with patients who have difficulty in understanding, speaking or hearing may occur during a consultation. The authors of this paper studied the hearing-related breakdowns in communication especially amongst older adults with hearing impairment (HI) using conversational analysis...Why and what should hearing care professionals know about cognitive impairment and dementia
Good reasons to care about cognitive impairment and dementia in audiology If asking people what they fear most when getting to old age, it is cognitive decline that is named most often. This comes with the expectation of limitations in...
