Journal Reviews
How safe is ESS really?
Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is a very frequently performed operation, both in America and worldwide. This ambitious project looked at the health data of more than 105 million patients across 60 1US HCOS. The cohort of 116,669 patients who underwent...
Spirituality and tinnitus – blocking out the haters!
The brain is fantastic at blocking out unwanted noise. Place a microphone on your temporal bone and you’ll realise you are subject to a relentless bombardment of sound you’ll never consciously hear: the clicking of your temporomandibular joint, the pulsating...
Epley manoeuvre angles
Posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (PC-BPPV) is a common vestibular cause of dizziness regularly encountered in the outpatient clinic. The condition is often diagnosed with a positive Dix-Hallpike manoeuvre (DHM) – turning the patient’s head 45 degrees to the...
The use of 3D videos to improve patient engagement with compensatory swallowing strategies
Patients with dysphagia are often asked to use compensatory techniques or manoeuvres to facilitate safe swallowing. For example, they may be taught to do a supraglottic swallow to minimise aspiration or a specific postural adjustment to support bolus flow. These...
Facial paralysis revisited
Facial paralysis grading is a confusing issue. Lots of classifications have been proposed but all are subjective. The authors attempted to automate the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SFGS) by training a convoluted neural network (CNN) deep learning system. They used...
Tonsillectomy and the environment
The authors compared the carbon footprint of various techniques used for subtotal tonsillectomy. The techniques included radiofrequency ablation, coblation and cold steel with bipolar diathermy. All medical equipment was reported and their carbon emissions in eCO₂ calculated. Cold steel with...
The cocktail party conundrum
I feel, with slight sadness and disappointment, that a good cocktail party, dresses, punch bowls and all is not currently in its heyday and, therefore, opportunity of attending is slim. However, from what I remember, they tend to be a...
Expectations and practice
Reading this paper is reassuring. It does not appear to be groundbreaking in its results but research can be as useful, if not more so, when it consolidates knowledge and helps unify the research base. This paper focuses on those...
Family-centred early hearing detection and intervention
This mixed-methods study provides important insight into how caregivers in South Africa experience early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) services. Using both survey data and narrative interviews, the authors explore how well current services reflect the principles of family-centred early...
Meaningful life changes following hearing aid use: a qualitative user perspective
Part of a larger survey on hearing aid outcomes and experiences, this US-based study explores meaningful life changes due to hearing aid use in adults, with the aim of contributing to and improving all aspects of aural rehabilitation for this...
Let’s talk brains: review of care pathways for communication management post brain tumour
One in five people with a brain tumour have speech and language difficulties such as aphasia – a language impairment that can result in difficulties using and understanding words and sentences and participating in conversations. This paper describes a scoping...
Temporal bone fractures in children – are we doing enough?
This is a retrospective study which assessed clinical presentation and prognosis in 91 children under the age of 18 who developed temporal bone fractures from trauma, the commonest of which was falls from heights followed by motor vehicle accident. The...
