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Do nasogastric tubes affect aspiration risk?

A nasogastric tube (NGT) is frequently used for patients who are at risk of endotracheal aspiration of oral diet. However, this cannot eliminate the aspiration of saliva. The incidence of aspiration pneumonia in patients with NGT therefore remains high. Some...

Cummings Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery

This book provides a detailed evidence-based overview of key topics in otolaryngology, including other specialities such as facial plastics and reconstructive surgery, the oral cavity and immunology. Each chapter begins with a short comprehensive list of key points, and finishes...

Discharge planning

For a specialty such as ENT in which so many procedures are performed as day case surgery, there is a pressing need for objective discharge criteria to facilitate safe decision making post-op. This review strikes a good balance between prescriptive...

What should be considered a ‘close’ margin in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma?

Achieving clear margins during surgical resection in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) is thought to reduce local recurrence (LR) and improve prognosis; however, what constitutes a clear, close, or involved margin is inconsistent in the literature and in practice....

Intermediate risk factors SCC tongue

This retrospective review from Japan assessed 89 patients who underwent surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, specifically they reviewed the evidence of perineural and vascular invasion (27.0% and 23.6%). Their results suggest, not unsurprisingly, that perineural and vascular...

Proliferative Verrucous Leukoplakia; which one is this one?

Oral leukoplakia has the potential for malignant change and it may frequently require histological analysis and a period of regular clinical observation. The majority of oral leukoplakia remains constant but there is a subset that progress to carcinoma. The authors...

Delays in oral cancer

This is a review from Canada where they attempt to relate delays in oral cancer presentation to treatment and the impact on stage, diagnosis and survival. They recognise that potentially the most significant delay is between the patient first noticing...

Structures determining T4a, T4b

This paper for tertiary cancer centre in India attempted to determine whether patients with T4b oral cancers involving the 'masticator space' should be treated with survival intent comparable to T4a cancers. Over a 7-year period, 30 patients with T4b cancers...

Coblation for lingual haemangiomas

Haemangiomas are benign vascular tumours characterised histologically by a marked proliferation of blood vessels. They can be either congenital or acquired, and can affect the tongue, both within the oral cavity and the oropharynx. A variety of interventions exist for...

A new treatment for smell loss?

It has been well established that smell training can be effective in the recovery of smell function post Covid-19 infection, and many other treatment modalities have been assessed. There have been limited studies to date evaluating the effects of dietary...