You searched for "larynx"

204 results found

Should all patients with BPPV have an MRI?

This paper describes an interesting series of 500 patients over a 10-year period with posterior canal BPPV, who had been investigated with MRI. The female to male ratio was 1.6:1 with a mean age of 56. There was a right...

Systematic review comparing transoral laser surgery versus open partial laryngeal surgery for advanced laryngeal cancer

The aim of this Italian systematic review was to establish outcomes (local control and survival) of conservative laryngeal surgery for advanced T stage laryngeal cancers. Articles published from 1980 onwards, had at least 10 patients that underwent partial laryngeal surgery...

To monitor the nerves or not?

Whilst intraoperative nerve monitoring has become the standard of care for mastoid and parotid surgery, its benefit in thyroid surgery remains unclear. In the UK NICE was agnostic on the subject in 2008, stating that it was potentially helpful and...

Should we do oesophagoscopy during panendoscopy?

Panendoscopy entails a complete evaluation of the upper aerodigestive tract, and consists of oral inspection, direct laryngoscopy, bronchoscopy, oesophagoscopy, or some combination of these procedures. Despite many advances in imaging over the years, a skilled surgeon’s eyes remain superior in...

What are the non-inflammatory causes of a conductive loss?

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...

Robot controlled mastoid surgery!

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....

Risk factors for post laryngectomy fistula

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...

What’s the risk of regrowth with partial (intracapsular) tonsillectomy

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...

The pioneer of precision: Wolfgang Steiner and the evolution of transoral laser surgery

It is rare that a single clinician entirely changes the course of the management of a particular condition. Steiner was one such clinician. Wolfgang Steiner was to transoral laser microsurgery what Grandmaster Flash was to hip-hop or James Brown was...

A new septoplasty technique

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...

Risk factors for post tonsillectomy bleeds

This paper reviews post-tonsillectomy bleeding in 692 patients and attempts to tease out risk factors. The overall bleed rate of 11.6% seems very high. The return to theatre rate was 2.6%. The paper identifies male patients and adult patients as...

Hyoid bone interposition graft in treatment of laryngotracheal stenosis

Laryngotracheal stenosis remains a challenging condition to manage, with treatment options plagued by either high rates of recurrence or excessive morbidity. The authors describe two cases of adult laryngotracheal stenosis treated by a hyoid interposition composite graft. A two-step procedure...