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The use of a tactical throat mic guitar amp system to improve communication in theatre in the COVID era

During the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV2) pandemic, current guidelines dictate that surgical teams wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in theatre. Currently this is, at a minimum, an FFP3 respirator, a visor, fluid repellent gown and gloves [1]. Many surgeons, particularly in...

Audiological monitoring in ototoxicity - Are we doing enough?

In this article Ghada Al-Malky explores the dichotomy of life-saving, yet hearing loss-causing medication, and questions whether the hearing healthcare community is doing enough to prevent preventable hearing loss. Ototoxicity is the damage to hearing and / or balance functions...

Establishing a medical device company: an ENTrepreneur’s experience

In 2004, while I was suturing the mucopericondrial flaps for a septoplasty, I thought to myself, “there must be an easier and faster way of doing this”. Even though I had no formal training in business or medical device development,...

Facing changes after surgery through portraiture

‘Facing Out: Life After Treatment for Facial Cancer’ was a two-year arts-for-health project funded by Arts Council England and The National Lottery which culminated in an exhibition at The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, in February 2019. Here, artist and project...

Shifting paradigms – how a visionary can change a specialty

The Tarabichi-Stammberger Ear and Sinus Institute came about because of a close working relationship and friendship between two senior figures in the specialty. Professor Muaaz Tarabichi tells us the story. My first meeting with Heinz Stammberger was in 1988 in...

ENT leadership

Challenges The first challenge is to agree what we mean by the term leadership because there are many different ways in which the term is used. What is, however, a consensus is that the key distinction between leadership and management...

Prednisolone and/or acyclovir for Bell’s palsy

Landmark Paper: Sullivan FM, Swan IRC, Donnan PT, et al. Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell’s Palsy. N Engl J Med 2007;357(16):1598-607. Facial nerve paralysis as a consequence of Bell’s palsy can result in devastating long-term effects on...

The accidental audiologist

In this article we hear from Muhammed Ayas, an “accidental” audiologist applying his transferable skills as a clinician, academic, and researcher through trying and testing innovative approaches in audiology to better serve the community. My audiology journey began 22 years...

Near-miss in otolaryngology head and neck surgery

It is recommended by John Fenton that we as a specialty need to embrace the concept of, take responsibility for and learn from all near-miss events, rather than our traditional haphazard approach of an occasional educational anecdote or case report....

Robotic surgery for squamous cell cancer: the new frontiers

Although the da Vinci platform was FDA approved for early-stage oropharyngeal cancers, the indications have expanded. In this article, John Hardman explains how surgeons, with greater understanding of the strengths and limitations of robotic surgery, have systematically set out to...