In this article, the authors introduce the description of swallowing problems which have been recently attributed to muscle tension dysphagia (MTDg). The authors are clear that this is a diagnosis of exclusion, and it is important to rule out other...
Occasionally, getting access to the larynx for an intervention can be challenging. Markus Hess and Susanne Fleischer describe a novel way to perform laser treatment in such difficult instances. Fibre guided office-based endolaryngeal laser surgery has developed to be a...
Depending on your point of view, laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is either ubiquitous or is over-diagnosed. Are singers more prone to LPR? What are the best tests? Mark Watson and Jane Shaw tell us more. Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR: the backflow of...
This is a very well-written textbook of robotic surgery in the field of head and neck, written by world-renowned specialists. The book covers the topics of training and education and application of robotic surgery in the management of both benign...
This unique book was written based on the novel enquiry-based teaching method particularly to illustrate laryngology conditions. It contains both adult and paediatric pathology. Each chapter starts with one or more case scenarios along with other useful subheadings to explain...
On receiving this book, it was rather reminiscent of preparing for my FRCS as it is from the series of the infamous ‘Pasha’. It is therefore laid out in the same manner i.e. thin pages and more text than pictures....
The title of this book is enough to intrigue anyone with an interest in voice, be it laryngologists, speech and language therapists or professional voice users. The text does not disappoint; Jean Abitbol takes us through a fascinating tour of...
This retrospective study looked at patients with an intact tympanic membrane with non-inflammatory causes – i.e. otitis media and cholesteotoma. They document their findings based on exploratory tympanotomy. They operated depending on the findings with either a stapedectomy or a...
This is a fascinating piece of work by a Korean team developing a human-robot collaborative control. Their model uses image guidance surgery to locate the drill tip’s position. Important structures can be highlighted – in this case the facial nerve....
This is a meta-analysis looking at the postoperative pharyngocutaneous fistula rates following total laryngectomy. The authors ended up with 34 studies with about 2500 patients. The most striking finding was that preoperative radiotherapy was a significant risk factor as well...
Partial (intracapsular) tonsillectomy is enjoying somewhat of a revival offering the potential for less postoperative pain and bleeding whilst relieving the obstructive element. The authors look at 303 patients, 82 of whom had partial tonsillectomy using coblation. They measured pre...
This article describes a novel septoplasty technique to correct a cartilaginous deflection. Although it took a while to understand it as the operative photographs were not very helpful it is an interesting concept. The author excises an inferior strip and...