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Salivary gland blues…

Intravenous methylene blue is a well-described method to assist in intraoperative localisation of parathyroid glands. The technique does come with challenges as anybody will know who has had to run adjacent to a theatre-bound trolley to ensure that the infusion...

Can and should vestibular schwannoma surgery be carried out via the endoscopic transcanal approach?

The extent and scope of endoscopic ear surgery has rapidly progressed in recent years, and this paper, from one of the leading proponents of this technique, reports on the outcomes of a case series of patients who have had total...

Silent sinus syndrome: which approach offers the best outcome?

Silent sinus syndrome (SSS) is a rare condition with patients presenting as spontaneous, painless enophthalmos, hypoglobus, orbital asymmetry, and maxillary sinus collapse on the ipsilateral side. The orbital resorption occurs secondary to negative pressure created in the maxillary sinus by...

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...

Is Gamma Knife Surgery effective for intracanalicular vestibular schwannomas?

Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are rare, occurring in approximately five per 100,000 adults a year. In circa 8% of cases, the VS is contained within the internal auditory canal, i.e. intracanalicular (iVS). Although radiosurgery is a recognised treatment modality for VSs,...

The push towards scarless parotid surgery

When dealing with benign parotid pathology, high expectations are placed on the operating surgeon to preserve key neurovascular structures, especially the animating facial nerve, through meticulous dissection. With time, there has been a greater emphasis on improving cosmesis in parotid...

Small vestibular schwannomas (VS) – is waiting the right thing to do?

VS management can be surgical, by radiosurgery or watchful waiting. Middle fossa approach (MCF) can be implemented in small and some medium-size tumours, and has the potential to preserve hearing. The authors measured quality of life of VS patients who...

Bell’s palsy incidence in Korean population

Bell’s palsy is an acute idiopathic paresis or paralysis of the peripheral facial nerve. It is the most common cause of facial nerve palsy with a reported incidence ranging from 11.5–55.3 per 100,000. The aetiology remains unclear. Several studies have...

The ACS-NSQIP study – predictive risk factors and outcomes in primary malignant parotid tumour surgery

Malignant parotid gland tumours occupy a good proportion of the ENT surgeon’s operative caseload. Large standardised datasets for malignant parotid tumour surgery are limited. This international multi-institutional study is based on the pooled American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality...

Surgical voice restoration after laryngopharyngectomy

Voice restoration is one of the key rehabilitative steps after laryngectomy or total laryngopharyngectomy (TLP). Patients who undergo TLP require reconstruction – increasingly commonly with microvascular free flaps. Despite their advantages in terms of fistula rates and swallowing outcomes, these...