Clinical efficacy of standard simple elliptical incision following drain-less and subcutaneous suture technique in preauricular sinus surgery.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to review our surgical strategy and outcomes of drain-less, subcutaneous suture technique in standard simple elliptical incision on preauricular sinus (PAS) cases. METHODS: The clinical records of 198 patients (247 ears) with PASs who were operated via standard simple elliptical incision with drain-less, subcutaneous suture technique by a single surgeon (K.H.P.) between January 2008 and December 2018 were reviewed for analysis. Patients' demographics, location of PASs, previous incision and drainage (I&D) history, previous surgical excision history, duration of follow-up, postoperative infection after surgery, and recurrence after surgery were analysed. RESULTS: Out of 247 PASs, 18 (7.3%) cases had postoperative infections and 11 (4.5%) cases showed recurrence. Postoperative infection rate were higher in previous I&D groups (PIDGs, 9.8%) and previous fistulectomy groups (PFGs, 10%), and also recurrence rates of PFGs (10%) was higher than those of fresh cases. However, there were no statistically significant differences between these groups. In addition, PAS patients with postoperative complications such as infection and recurrence were more common in male patients. CONCLUSION: We report a method of drain-less standard simple elliptical incision for the surgical removal of PAS and the outcomes of the surgery. Our method showed a low recurrence rate and low chance of wound infection postoperatively not only in fresh cases but also in pre-operative I&D cases and even previous fistulectomy cases. In conclusion, our method is proposed as an effective and safe method in all kind of patient groups, without presenting post-operative discomfort to patients.

Can Pharyngeal Packing Prevent Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Nasal Surgery?

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to perform a meta-analysis for the efficacy of pharyngeal packing during nasal surgery in the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane database. METHODS: Two authors independently searched the databases for relevant studies from inception to October 2017. Included studies were randomized controlled studies published in English comparing pharyngeal packing during intubation (packing group) with no packing (control group) in patients who underwent nasal surgery. Outcomes of interest included the incidence of PONV and throat pain during the first 24 hours postsurgery. RESULTS: Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis. The incidence of moderate-to-severe PONV in the recovery room was significantly higher in the packing group than in the control group. However, the incidence of moderate-to-severe PONV significantly decreased and was lower in the packing group than in the control group at 2 hours postoperative. The incidence of throat pain was higher in the packing group than in the control group until 2 hours postoperative. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the occurrence of postoperative morbidity according to the time course, pharyngeal packing during nasal surgery does not alleviate PONV but instead could aggravate postoperative throat pain. Additionally, pharyngeal packing has the possibility of airway problem such as the foreign body aspiration. Based on our results, we suggest that there is no need to place a pharyngeal pack to prevent PONV in patients undergoing nasal surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1b Laryngoscope, 129:291-298, 2019.

The safety and efficacy of powered intracapsular tonsillectomy in children: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We performed a systemic review and meta-analysis regarding the postoperative pain, perioperative, and postoperative morbidity of powered intracapsular tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (PITA) using a microdebrider as a method of tonsillectomy. DATA SOURCES: Five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) in their entirety through March 2017. REVIEW METHODS: We included studies in which there was a comparison between groups of patients who underwent PITA (PITA group) and those who had extracapsular tonsillectomy (control group). Articles assessing effects of PITA in the pediatric patient were systemically and independently reviewed by two researchers. The outcomes of interest were intraoperative morbidity (operative time and bleeding), postoperative morbidity (postoperative pain, recovery time, tonsil regrowth, and postoperative bleeding rate), and improvement of sleep breath disorder (apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] and symptomatic scores). RESULTS: PITA did not significantly increase operative time or intraoperative blood loss. With PITA, there was significantly decreased postoperative pain, amount of analgesia, time to resumption of normal diet and activity, and incidence of postoperative admissions (due to dehydration or postoperative bleeding control) compared to those of the control group. In contrast, the incidence of postoperative tonsil regrowth was statistically higher in the PITA group than in the control group. The PITA improved AHI and obstructive sleep apnea 18-item questionnaire scores significantly, which were similar with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: With regard to intraoperative morbidity and postoperative morbidity, PITA is a safe procedure. However, there are high levels of heterogeneity with regard to several measured parameters. Therefore, further large, well-designed trials are required to substantiate our findings. Laryngoscope, 128:732-744, 2018.