Search

Acupuncture for tonsillectomy pain in children

The challenge: tonsillectomy pain Tonsillectomy is a uniform surgical insult which results in a 10-day recovery for children. Severe pain can occur which can give rise to poor oral fluid intake, dehydration and potentially the need for intravenous fluid resuscitation....

Optimising hearing aid processing for music appreciation

Hearing aid manufacturers’ main focus has, up until recently, been improvement of speech intelligibility. Today’s hearing aid users have much broader demands however and often cite improved music perception as a key outcome or goal. Drs Tish Ramirez and Rebecca...

The effects of leisure noise exposure on young people’s hearing

There is growing concern regarding the effects of leisure noise exposure on young people’s auditory system. Information provided by healthcare professionals should be evidence-based; Hannah Keppler discusses some recent findings about hearing in young people. Excessive noise exposure can lead...

Detecting cancer margins during robotic head and neck cancer surgery using ambient mass spectrometry

We have known about altered metabolism in cancer cells since Otto Warburg described it 97 years ago. But can we take advantage of this knowledge in curing cancer? Jim Higginson explains the value of smoke generated during cancer surgery. The...

The changing landscape of thyroid and parathyroid surgery

How has clinical practice in the management of thyroid and parathyroid disease has evolved in recent years? I perform very few head & neck operations where the patient tells me just one week following surgery that they ‘feel much better’....

In conversation with Prof Peter John Wormald: The past, present and future of treating CRS

At ERS2023, Prof PJ Wormald will lecture on the past, present and future of treating chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). We caught up with him recently to hear about the major improvements, the hypes and his dreams for the future of treating...

Targeting the microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis

Researchers at St Paul’s Sinus Centre and UBC in Vancouver are testing a novel treatment for CRS: transferring mucus from a healthy donor into a patient’s sinuses. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is one of the most common diseases managed by otolaryngologists...

Prudent audiology

Introduction In January 2014, Professor Mark Drakeford, Minister for Health and Social Services, defined Prudent Healthcare as, “Healthcare that fits the needs and circumstances of patients and actively avoids wasteful care that is not to the patient’s benefit.” ‘Prudent’ healthcare...

Patient-centred audiological rehabilitation: facilitating and hindering factors for implementation

Introduction Patient-centred care in the health sector is a worldwide concern [1, 2]. Patient-centred rehabilitation is characterised by availability, appropriateness, preference, and timelines [3]. A consensus report by the Institute of Medicine [4] defines a patient-centred approach as ‘providing care...

A cognitive therapy programme for hearing impairment: reducing avoidance and mental distress

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a psychotherapeutic treatment method, is most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression. Newly published results from a controlled, clinical study demonstrate that an adapted CBT programme is useful for several common challenges in aural rehabilitation;...

Assessing dizziness-related quality of life in the paediatric population

In this article, Devin McCaslin and Gary Jacobson share their experience of assessing dizziness-related quality of life in paediatric patients, and demonstrate that the involvement of care-givers is vital in ensuring the most appropriate assessment and treatment for this particular...

What’s new in genetic testing for hearing impairment?

Often the first question following the diagnosis of a hearing loss is ‘why?’ In this article Ali Danesh explores the advances made in uncovering ‘why’ from a genetics perspective. Ali describes the panel of genetic tests now commercially available to...