To compare post-operative audiometric outcomes for the two prevailing surgical approaches for isolated malleus and/or incus fixation: ossicular mobilisation with preservation of the ossicular chain, and disruption and reconstruction of the ossicular chain.

A search was conducted, in December 2016, of PubMed, Scopus, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature articles written in English. Papers presenting original data regarding post-operative audiometric outcomes in patients who underwent surgical treatment for malleus and/or incus fixation with a mobile and intact stapes were included. A risk of bias assessment was performed on the 14 selected papers and a tier system was developed. Meta-analysis was accomplished by comparing pooled rates of surgical success by chi-square test and calculating odds ratios by logistical regression. Analysis was performed using Revman5 and R software.

Analysis of the literature revealed no differences in audiometric outcomes between ossicular chain mobilisation and ossicular chain reconstruction in patients with isolated malleus and/or incus fixation. A large, prospective study comparing both short- and long-term hearing results for ossicular chain mobilisation and ossicular chain reconstruction in this population may identify whether a difference in outcomes exists between the two approaches.

Acute mastoiditis remains the commonest intratemporal complication of otitis media in the paediatric population. There has been a lack of consensus regarding the diagnosis and management of acute mastoiditis, resulting in considerable disparity in conservative and surgical management.

To review the current literature, proposing recommendations for the management of paediatric acute mastoiditis and appraising the treatment outcomes.

A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases.

Twenty-one studies were included, with a total of 564 patients. Cure rates of medical treatment, conservative surgery and mastoidectomy were 95.9 per cent, 96.3 per cent and 89.1 per cent, respectively.

Mastoidectomy may be the most definitive treatment available; however, reviewed data suggest that conservative treatment alone has high efficacy as first-line treatment in uncomplicated cases of acute mastoiditis, and conservative therapy may be an appropriate first-line management when treating acute mastoiditis.

To summarise the available literature related to wound healing post tonsillectomy, including the stages of healing, experimental models for assessing healing (in animals and humans) and the various factors that affect wound healing.

A search of the English literature was conducted using the Ovid Medline database, with the search terms ‘tonsillectomy’ or ‘tonsil’ and ‘wound healing’. Thirty-one articles that objectively assessed tonsillectomy wound healing were included for analysis.

The majority of assessments in humans investigating tonsillectomy wound healing involve serial direct clinical examinations of the oral cavity. Many patient and surgical factors have been shown to affect wound healing after tonsillectomy. There is some research to suggest that the administration of adjunctive treatment in the post-operative period may be beneficial to tonsillectomy wound healing.

Wound healing post tonsillectomy has been poorly researched. Having a better understanding of the process of wound healing would allow surgeons to potentially prevent, anticipate and manage complications from the surgery that arise as part of the healing process.

The prevalence of rhinitis in athletes has frequently been studied in combination with asthma, but the impact of exercise on the paracrine and secretory functions of nasal mucosa is less well established. This systematic review aimed to examine the effect of exercise on nasal mucosa in elite athletes.

A systematic search of Medline, Embase and the non-Medline subset of PubMed, from inception to 8th March 2016, was performed to identify studies on rhinitis in athletes.

Of the 373 identified unique articles, a total of 8 studies satisfied the criteria for this review.

There is no evidence in the existing literature that indicates a reduction in nasal airway induced by exercise. Olfaction and mucociliary transport time are affected in swimmers, which can likely be attributed to chlorine irritation and which resolves with training cessation. Short-term strenuous exercise may trigger changes in cytology and prolonged mucociliary transport time, which also resolve quickly with rest.

Immunoglobulin G4 related disease is a recently described systemic syndrome. The head and neck region is the second most common site for presentation after the pancreas.

PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched from 1995 to July 2017 for all the studies on immunoglobulin G4 related disease diagnosed in the head and neck compartment. Patient-specific data were extracted and basic statistical analysis was performed.

Ninety-one patients were identified. Treatment was specified in 76 patients. Twenty patients received surgical treatment, eight of them in association with medical therapy. Fifty-six patients received medical treatment. The disease recurred in 25 per cent of patients treated with surgical treatment alone, in 3.6 per cent of patients treated with medical treatment alone and in 12.5 per cent of patients treated with both. All medical treatment protocols contained high-dose corticosteroids.

Early and correct diagnosis can avoid unnecessary surgical treatment, and glucocorticoid therapy can improve the long-term prognosis.

Otorhinolaryngology has an extensive history that spans nearly five millennia, and the history of women as medical and surgical practitioners stretches back to at least 3500 BC.

To explore the history of women in ENT from ancient to modern times, and discover their fascinating role in this field over the years.

A literature review was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed.

In ancient and medieval times, there were female doctors accomplished in areas pertaining to ENT. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, inspirational women pioneers paved the way for modern female ENT surgeons. This led to a rapid increase in the representation of female otorhinolaryngologists in clinical practice and authorship over the last fifty years.

The contribution of women to otorhinolaryngology has evolved since ancient times and the greatest advancement has occurred within the last two hundred years.

Recently, there has been increased emphasis on the development and application of patient-reported outcome measures. This drive to assess the impact of illness or interventions, from the patient's perspective, has resulted in a greater number of available questionnaires. The importance of selecting an appropriate patient-reported outcome measure is specifically emphasised in the paediatric population. The literature on patient-reported outcome measures used in paediatric otolaryngology was reviewed.

A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the databases Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsycInfo, using the terms: ‘health assessment questionnaire’, ‘structured questionnaire’, ‘questionnaire’, ‘patient reported outcome measures’, ‘PROM’, ‘quality of life’ or ‘survey’, and ‘children’ or ‘otolaryngology’. The search was limited to English-language articles published between 1996 and 2016.

The search yielded 656 articles, of which 63 were considered relevant. This included general paediatric patient-reported outcome measures applied to otolaryngology, and paediatric otolaryngology disease-specific patient-reported outcome measures.

A large collection of patient-reported outcome measures are described in the paediatric otolaryngology literature. Greater standardisation of the patient-reported outcome measures used in paediatric otolaryngology would assist in pooling of data and increase the validation of tools used.