Early oral feeding following total laryngectomy

Pharyngocutaneous fistula is a serious complication after total laryngectomy. The reported incidence varies from 1% to 50%. There is still no agreement regarding when to begin oral feeding after total laryngectomy. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the safety of early oral feeding after total laryngectomy. Materials and In a prospective study, patients who underwent total laryngectomy were randomly divided into either the oral feeding or the nasogastric tube [NGT] groups. For patients in the oral feeding group, feeding was initiated orally with a clear liquid diet on the third postoperative day, whereas patients in the nasogastric tube group were fed through NGT and received nothing orally until the seventh postoperative day. Between September 2002 and October 2006, 25 patients were studied in this trial. There were 13 patients [52%] in the oral feeding group and 12 patients [48%] in the NGT group. Their ages ranged from 49 to 77 years [mean 66.07 +/- 7.22 and 63.83 +/- 7.58 years in oral feeding and NGT groups, respectively]. Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square tests showed that differences between the two groups were not statistically significant with regard to age, tumor location and tumor stage. One case of fistula occurred in each group. Our results indicate that in a selected group of patients, it is possible to initiate oral feeding much earlier in the postoperative period than what was formerly thought

[Speech in noise test in 7-9 years old school age children with otitis media with effusion in 12 and 13 areas in Tehran, 1378-79]

Method and Material: This study examined the speech in noise test in 60 school age children with otitis media with effusion and 30 school age children with normal hearing in +5, 0 and -5 dB signal to noise ratio. The mean of age was 8.05 in study group and 8.25 in control group. Speech in noise test were performed for study group and control group in quiet an in noise. Speech noise presented ipsilaterally in both groups

Finding: The correlation of mean of SDS in +5, 0 and -5 dB signal to noise ratio between study group and control group, is significant

[Temporary threshold shift by otoacoustic emission in a group of 18-25 years old with normal hearing]

Method and Material: This study was performed on 36 normal-hearing subjects aged 18-25 years for survey of temporary threshold shift [TTS] by transient evoked otoacoustic emissions

Finding: Noise can affect the pure-tone thresholds and [TEOAEs] amplitudes. When cochlea affected by noise, evaluating TEOAE is more suitable than pure-tone audiometry. Because of this test, is objective an unaffected by attention and alertness and can be evaluated in difficult to test subject and also have high carefulness and can be performed in a quiet, but not sound-proof room