Outpatient closure of CSF leaks: a good idea or a step too far?

After day-case septoplasty, day case thyroidectomy, now day case CSF leak repair – has the pendulum moved too far? The authors put forward a convincing case for what, only 10 years ago, would have sounded like a provocation. They quote...

Safe distances in the infratemporal fossa

This analysis from China involved 50 enhanced CT datasets to reconstruct the skull, internal carotid artery and the internal jugular vein. The anatomical routes of these vessels were related to the styloid process, height of the pterygoid plates, distance from...

Maxillary osteotomy stability

This systematic review assesses inferior repositioning of the maxilla six months after surgery. Two articles were identified with a total of 22 patients. The repositioning was of a mean of 3.2 to 4.5mm anteriorly and 0.1 to 1.8mm posteriorly. Six...

A review of endoscopic sinus surgery outcomes

This review discusses the outcome measures that may be considered in the assessment of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) as well as the outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) published so far. The authors also discuss the role of peri-operative...

Bad splits

This is a meta-analysis of reported risk factors of a ‘bad split’ in a sagittal split mandibular osteotomy. They identified 30 observational articles and therefore acknowledged it is based on low quality studies. It is compounded by the definition of...

A modification of the crescentic flap for nasal skin reconstruction

Non-melanoma skin cancers are the most frequent skin tumours and in over 25% of cases affect the nose. Following excision, the reconstruction may be challenging. Reconstruction aims to preserve the anatomical units, nasal functions and also an aesthetic final outcome....

Contemporary UK experience of oropharyngeal transoral laser microsurgery

It is well recognised that the current emergence of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) as a distinct disease entity requires a fresh look at standard treatment modalities that are based on chemoradiotherapy for stage III/IVa OPSCC. The Newcastle experience...

CAD/CAM assisted mandibular reconstruction or freestyle?

The gold standard for the reconstruction of the mandible is a free bone flap and the fibula is commonly used. The fibula is a straight bone and presents considerations and difficulties in the formation of a U-shaped neo-mandible. Computer aided...

Do endonasal approaches for meningiomas have more CSF leaks?

Rarely, patients presenting to the ENT surgeon with anosmia may have an anterior skull base neoplasm such as a meningioma. Historically, the traditional approaches have focused on several transcranial, external routes, including the pterional craniotomy, and the subfrontal craniotomy. The...

Safety of outpatient thyroid and parathyroid surgery

This study examined the safety and outcomes of matched groups of patients, undergoing either inpatient thyroid / parathyroid surgery or being discharged within eight hours of surgery. There were 2,362 patients in each group who were matched by a ‘propensity...

Outcome of TORS to tongue base and epiglottis in patients with OSA intolerant of conventional treatment

The use of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) in ENT is rather controversial, but the use of robotic surgery for obstructive sleep apneoa (OSA), makes it doubly so. Previous studies on TORS in OSA have been performed with other types of...

In-office KTP laser excision of a vocal process granuloma

The KTP laser is increasingly being used in an outpatient setting – particularly in North America – to treat various laryngeal pathologies including papillomas, leukoplakia, dysplasia and vascular lesions. This article reports the use of the KTP laser in the...