You searched for "preoperative"
Improving palliative care training for speech pathologists
There has been a steady increase in the number of people with swallowing, communication and cognitive disorders requiring palliative care. They require specialised, and complex care. This study tries to find out whether speech language pathologists are adequately trained to...
Is a chest x-ray necessary in making urgent referrals for suspected head and neck cancer?
The article presents an audit on urgent referrals for suspected head and neck cancer in 2144 patients. Only 8.6% of cases proved positive for head and neck cancer. The Scottish Referral Guidelines were adhered only in 55.1% of cases. Interestingly,...
Is there a cause-and-effect relationship between allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis?
This review examines the possible causative relationship between allergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) that has long been proposed. Many observational and experimental studies exist, however no clear and definitive connection has been established. This is mainly due to...
Improving smell outcomes after sinus surgery: impregnated dressings?
There is much we can do to improve the airway of patients with chronic sinus disease, especially those with polyps. However, the olfactory outcomes are usually disappointing and patients miss this important sensory modality, which has an effect on their...
Consequences of tonsillectomy rationing?
This article examines Hospital Episode Statistics and Office for National Statistics data to investigate the change in rates of tonsillectomy and admissions for tonsillitis and its complications, over a 20-year period. Between 1991 and 2011, 44% fewer tonsillectomies were performed....
Clinical coding: variability and error in otolaryngology
The ever topical spectre of coding in otolaryngology is comprehensively evaluated in this article. It attempts to debunk the mystique of current coding practices and the challenge of health informatics in the modern NHS. A total of 3131 randomly selected...
National analysis of outcome of head and neck cancer surger
Patient outcomes continue to become ever more visible in the NHS with ongoing drives to demonstrate transparency in our delivery of healthcare. This article reviews unit-level data publication using Hospital Episode Statistics data in all units undertaking head and neck...
Management of metastatic neck disease
This article publishes the findings of a recent expert-led evidence based management symposium in the UK with recommendations according to the SIGN level of evidence and grading. The article neatly summarises the key points, and its clarity despite the complexity...
Cost effectiveness and vestibular schwannoma surgery
This is the first cost effectiveness modelling study looking at the three main treatment options for small to medium sized vestibular schwannomas. This study uses the widely accepted cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) outcome measure to evaluate three...
Sham controlled trial: BPPV
I was drawn to this study and it proved an enlightening read; it also is a good example of where recommendations of a Cochrane review for long-term evidence of benefit have been acted upon! The study looked at the efficiency...
Sublingual immunotherapy
This paper reviews the recent European studies on sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). SLIT is currently widely used in Europe and is gaining popularity in the United States. It is known that longer treatment is needed with SLIT compared with subcutaneous immunotherapy...
