Journal Reviews
Speech and language therapists have the skills to provide all practisable supports in compliance with Mental Capacity Act guidance
Deciding where to live can be complex. However, people with communication difficulties can find this even more difficult, and they are often completed excluded from the process. In the past, people with complex communication difficulties may have been placed in...
Is tonsillectomy performed any better by trained surgeons compared with trainees?
Tonsillectomy is one of the most common operations performed in otolaryngology. Training in this procedure therefore needs to begin early in the formative years, while also complying with patient safety and cost-effectiveness requirements. This randomised prospective study compares tonsillectomy with...
Association of eustachian tube dysfunction in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy for sleep-disordered breathing
The need for this study arises from the fact that after undergoing adenotonsillectomy, some children continue to suffer from symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) which overlap with symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD), such as cognitive and behavioural impairment, resulting...
Redefining alar retraction: can hyaluronic acid replace the scalpel?
Alar retraction is a common challenging nasal deformity and requires precise structural correction to achieve both functional and aesthetic harmony. Traditionally correction of alar retraction has relied on open rhinoplasty with various techniques including cartilage grafting, suturing techniques and advancement...
Ménière’s disease in today’s social media sphere
Social media is increasingly becoming the source of medical information for many. The authors analysed 1108 posts on Ménière’s disease on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, to determine the accuracy of content, authorship, depiction of Ménière’s disease and types of media...
Do in-office steroid injections help for idiopathic subglottic stenosis?
Idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS) is a narrowing of the trachea of unknown cause, usually affecting middle-aged Caucasian women. In-office intralesional steroid injection (SILSI) is a recent advance in minimally invasive treatment aiming to reduce inflammation and scarring. The authors of...
Are you aware of communication partner training?
Increased isolation is a common sequalae of communication difficulties associated with traumatic brain injury. This is often because both the person and the people around the person are unsure how to adjust their conversation behaviours to compensate for these difficulties....
Operating room with a live electrical wire!
Education in healthcare is essential for enhancing patient safety, improving informed consent and enabling personal and professional development. Surgical training often focuses on common complications and the consent process for these potential adverse outcomes. But what about education on less...
A dizzying response to the silent killer
In this recent case control report by Kandemir and colleagues, we are asked to consider the association between hypertensive disease and hearing impairment, tinnitus and dizziness. A 200-strong cohort of normotensive and newly-diagnosed hypertensive patients underwent pure tone audiometry, Tinnitus...
How common is dysphagia in people with sarcopenia?
Sarcopenia, the progressive loss of muscle mass and function, affects about 10–16% of the global elderly population. The condition has also gained increased attention recently as a contributing factor to dysphagia amongst older individuals. The authors of this paper undertook...
Does surgical complexity influence hearing preservation after perimodiolar cochlear implantation?
In this prospective study, 34 adults underwent perimodiolar cochlear implantation with an extended round window approach. Three investigators reviewed fluoroscopic, electrocochleography (ECochG) and video data recorded simultaneously during the surgeries. Surgical complexity was also recorded as straightforward or complex. Residual...
Patient barriers: adult cochlear implantation systematic review
The literature across a 35-year time span highlights disproportionately low rates of cochlear implantation among adults compared to paediatric populations, despite the significant benefits of cochlear implants (CIs) for individuals with severe to profound hearing loss. Barriers span psychological, informational,...
