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A comparison of same day with staged bilateral cartilage graft tympanoplasty for tubotympanic CSOM

This randomised, controlled study compares the tympanoplasty outcomes in two groups of patients: one undergoing bilateral tympanoplasty on the same day (18 patients, 36 ears) and the other having the same procedure done on different days, with a gap of...

‘What was I talking about?’ Memory and discourse in language impairment

This article discusses the function of the three theoretical components of working memory and their influence on discourse (the phonological assembly, the visuo-spatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer). The authors emphasise that the buffer is the key conceptual component responsible...

Microbiome changes after endoscopic sinus surgery: all is not what it seems

As we keep fighting a losing battle with bacteria and antibiotics, it becomes clear that it is not about killing bacteria, not even diminishing the bacterial load, but rather about shifting the different types of bacteria that colonise and live...

Do intratympanic injections require local anaesthesia?

Intratympanic injections are becoming increasingly acceptable in the management of Meniere’s disease, tinnitus and sudden hearing loss. This is because they avoid the need for hospitalisation and can be performed as low-cost outpatient procedures. It is traditional to freeze the...

Positive practical communication skills for medics

Communication training for medical students generally focuses on communicating with unimpaired individuals. This article describes how a speech and language therapy department at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden trialled a new approach to teaching medical students. Fifty-nine undergraduate medical...

Blood type and epistaxis

In this Turkish study, the authors attempted to determine if there was an association between ABO blood type and epistaxis. They looked at 359 epistaxis admissions at the same hospital over a three-year period. Only patients with idiopathic epistaxis were...

Pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy

Pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) after total laryngectomy is a serious complication post-surgery, and can lead to prolonged hospitalisation, adding delays in postoperative chemoradiotherapy. This Turkish retrospective study looked at 166 patients who underwent total laryngectomy for laryngeal cancer, although it is...

Epley Manoeuvre: number of times it is required and its diagnostic value

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a common condition but if inadequately treated or wrongly diagnosed, can prolong the distressing symptoms of momentary dizziness, nausea and visual disturbances which can be due to other causes and deteriorate quality of life. Studies...

CT chest surveillance for oral cancer patients

Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the chest is performed as part of the assessment of patients with oral cancer to exclude pulmonary metastasis or synchronous cancer. This process is integral to staging of the disease. In some cases, non-specific pulmonary...

A move away from bony free flaps in reconstruction

Techniques for facial reconstruction have come on in leaps and bounds since the world wars. The use of titanium implants is more recent and the technology for manipulating the metal and how we use it is rapidly developing. Here the...

Learning curve for sialendoscopy

Sialendoscopy represents a minimally invasive technique that permits direct salivary tree visualisation and treatment using endoscopic techniques. Previous studies have shown that it is an efficacious, safe and potentially gland preserving method to treat major salivary gland disease. However, it...

Evidence based outcomes for canal wall up, canal wall down and subsequent canal wall reconstruction for primary cholesteatoma

There has been a long standing controversy over whether to treat primary cholesteatoma with open or closed technique. The general consensus is that limited disease can be treated with closed technique whereas the canal wall down approach helps reduce recidivism...