You searched for "intervention"
To use or not to use: absorbable sutures for facial wounds
This systematic literature review looked at studies comparing facial skin closure with absorbable versus non-absorbable sutures. Studies not published in English or looking at areas other than the head and neck, and studies focused on suture technique rather than material...
What we need to know about the new frontier of inner ear therapies
This is an interesting and topical review of the emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical solutions for hearing loss and related conditions such as tinnitus. This paper suggests we are on the cusp of a very large step-change in the way we...
The hippo and the nose
Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) leads to histological changes including thickening of the basilar membrane and epithelial proliferation. Molecular mechanisms underlying these changes are still not fully clear. A signalling pathway called the hippo with Yes‐associated protein (YAP) as...
Rhinotillexomania - how bad can nose picking get?
This is a fascinating first case report of rhinotillexomania associated with empty nose syndrome (ENS). Rhinotillexomania encompasses compulsive, pathological nose picking and is a variant of self-harm. Tranchito and Chhabra describe an elderly patient presenting with longstanding symptoms of nasal...
The polyp shrinker
Inflammatory markers, including T2 cells beta common (βc) cytokines IL-3, IL5 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), are known to play an important role in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). CSL311, a monoclonal antibody (mAb), was developed to target human...
Tablet-audiometer school hearing screening in the context of a developing country
This paper presents a novel use of innovation to tackle the challenges of providing school-age hearing screening in low and middle income countries (in this case Nicaragua, second poorest in the western hemisphere), from the creators of a tablet-based audiometer...
Preoperative prediction of pain outcomes in patients with trigeminal neuralgia
The authors of this retrospective study have developed a preoperative trigeminal neuralgia (TN) grading system for the preoperative prediction of long-term pain relief after microvascular decompression (MVD). Patients who had become refractory to or developed toxicity to carbamazepine or oxycarbamazepine...
RCT: tongue retaining devices vs CPAP for OSA
This study compared the effect of a tongue retaining device versus the use of CPAP in 27 patients within a crossover RCT design. Tongue retaining devices (also known as tongue stabilising devices), are similar in appearance to a plastic tongue-sized...
Simple preoperative tests predicting outcomes for ESS patients?
We are all familiar with patients suffering extensive nasal polyps who relapse all to soon after careful and thorough endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). This paper looks to answer whether we can predict which patients will do well, and which less...
Compress to suppress the venous tinnitus
This interesting retrospective case series analyses the effectiveness of a modified surgical technique with retromastoid reconstruction of the sigmoid sinus by mechanical compression with Surgicel and bone wax packing under local anaesthesia for patients with venous pulsatile tinnitus related to...
Lateral skull base surgery using the endoscope
Endoscopic lateral skull base surgery could be performed via less invasive techniques due to wide panoramic visualisation of the operative field. With less invasive techniques, patients have been shown to require shorter recovery time and reduced postoperative pain. In this...
