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Pre-habilitation in head and neck cancer – a literature review to guide best practice

Curative treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) often requires surgery; however, outcomes are impacted by the complexity of the surgery and the patient population. Increasingly ‘Enhanced Recovery After Surgery’ (ERAS) protocols are being used to maximise patient outcomes and...

Platelet-rich plasma-cartilage tympanoplasty

This systematic review and meta-analysis of five studies (n=234 patients) reports the effectiveness of type I tympanoplasty with cartilage and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) compared with type I cartilage tympanoplasty alone for closure of dry tympanic membrane perforations. This is an...

Stepwise approach to manage palatal myoclonus successfully

Palatal myoclonic tinnitus (PMT) is a rare condition caused by rhythmic voluntary or involuntary movements of the soft palate, mainly the tensor veli palatini and levator veli palatine muscles. Patients usually present with a ‘clicky’ noise in the ear. Oral...

Are there benefits of prophylactic swallowing exercises for patients with head and neck cancer?

This randomised controlled trial aimed to establish the impact of prophylactic swallowing exercises in patients undergoing chemoradiation therapy for head and neck cancer. The primary outcome was the functional oral intake scale (FOIS), although secondary measures for feeding tube use,...

Transnasal endoscopic choanal atresia surgery

Surgery is currently the only definitive treatment for congenital choanal atresia (CCA). There are various surgical approaches including transnasal, transeptal or transpalatal. The authors propose that the preferred option is transnasal endoscopic choanal atresia surgery (TECAS) and set out to...

Snap: do voice patients’ self-ratings match the professionals or the machines?

Self-rating by people with voice disorders and perceptual assessments by speech and language therapists are generally quicker and cheaper than acoustic voice analysis. Reports, with small sample sizes and mixed participant groups, on whether these measures are associated have demonstrated...

Paediatric coblation intracapsular tonsillectomy

The ENT-UK tonsillectomy audit in 2005 created understandable caution in the promotion of Coblation techniques. This prospective study on 100 consecutive paediatric patients looked at outcomes following ‘cold’ radiofrequency ablation (Coblation) intracapsular tonsillectomy. This series shows the technique to be...

Anterior skull-base surgery: current opinion

This review examines the changes in the field of anterior skull-base surgery and the rapid advancement that has taken place in the last 10–15 years. Tumours of the anterior skull base that were once considered inoperable are now routinely resected...

Clinical features of BPPV in Meniere’s disease

It is an observation that BPPV appears to be commonly associated with Meniere’s disease (MD). This five-year study compared features and treatment outcomes between patients presenting with MD in conjunction with unilateral BPPV and a group of BPPV patients without...

Bamboo nodes – a case series

Bamboo nodes are band-like, cream-coloured submucosal deposits affecting the middle third of the vocal cord. They are reported to affect women exclusively and are frequently bilateral but can be asymmetrical. They are distinct from vocal cord nodules but can be...

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...