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Use of topical steroids and antibiotics, compared to systemic antibiotics in the treatment of acute rhinusinusitis

Acute rhinusinusitis is mainly initiated by viral infections. Bacterial infection is usually superadded. The inflammatory cascade upregulates the pro-inflammatory mediators resulting in pain, nasal obstruction and nasal discharge. Local application of steroids and antibiotics could provide a higher concentration of...

Medialisation laryngoplasty can relieve pain related to voice use

Odynophonia, or pain associated with voice use, is a relatively uncommon manifestation of glottal insufficiency related to vocal fold motion impairment (VFMI). Its incidence is approximately 15% in patients with vocal fold paresis. Medialisation laryngoplasty (ML) was popularised by Isshiki...

Chronic facial pain: types and long-term treatment

This publication discusses the details and differences between chronic tension type headache and migraine and followed a cohort of 240 patients over 36 months. The authors applied strict criteria to distinguish between chronic tension headache and migraine, these essentially being...

Role of fine needle aspiration cytology in the management of thyroid neoplasm

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a useful procedure in the assessment of thyroid swellings. This retrospective study was done at King Abdul-Aziz University hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh. The objectives of this study were: to determine the cytological pattern...

Possibility of noise induced hearing loss during middle ear suction for secretory otitis media

Emission of high intensity sound is dangerous to the cochlea and can result in noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). Removal of middle ear fluid is common in everyday practice and the possibility of inducing NIHL is seldom considered and not...

The anatomy and actual number of branches of the sphenopalatine artery: surgical implications

Endoscopic sphenopalatine artery ligation or cauterisation is nowadays the main treatment for epistaxis unresponsive to medical therapy. However, on review of the literature, there appears to be confusion relating to the anatomical nomenclature of the sphenopalatine artery branches and more...

Application of paper patching in patulous eustachian tube

The condition of patulous eustachian tube, as opposed to dysfunctional eustachian tube, is less frequently diagnosed. Symptoms related to this, such as autophony, aural fullness, ‘being under water’, ‘hearing their own breathing’, and hearing sensitivity (varying in either direction) can...

Supplementing intranasal cortical steroids with montelukast: does it help?

Intranasal steroids are widely used in the treatment of allergic rhinitis. Whether or not the addition of montelukast helps was assessed in this study. This was a single centre prospective randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of two groups of patients, one...

Lower respiratory involvement in allergic rhinitis and chronic sinusitis

The recent ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) project has generated interest in simultaneous involvement of the lower respiratory airway in cases of chronic rhinosinusitis and allergic rhinitis. This study takes into account the extent of pulmonary function...

‘Dead ear’ after mastoid surgery

The primary aim of surgery in the management of cholesteatoma is eradication of the disease which can potentially result in serious complications such as intracranial extension, facial nerve weakness and further hearing loss. A profound hearing loss resulting postoperatively considerably...