Oral appliances for the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

Oral appliances have been used by dentists for several decades to treat snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. Although these devices are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, most have undergone only sparse clinical testing for efficacy and safety. Most otolaryngologists are not well-versed in their applicability as treatment options. This review summarizes the historical development of oral appliances, the types of available devices, the current literature regarding devices, and pertinent regulatory issues as they relate to the ongoing debate over appliance use and potential misuse.

Endoscopically guided midfacial degloving in infants for removal of congenital and acquired midfacial masses.

Midface degloving allows excellent exposure for a variety of congenital and acquired pediatric facial masses. The petite facial skeleton of the infant and child, however, can limit the utility of this dissection, thereby necessitating external approaches and altered cosmesis. Endoscopic assistance can aid in safe and complete removal of these masses without the need for external surgical approaches. In this series, five infants underwent midfacial degloving for midface lesions. Those masses that could not be adequately visualized underwent midfacial degloving with endoscopic assistance. Successful surgical removal was accomplished without complications, with follow-up ranging from 1 to 5 years. No surgical nasal deformity, vestibular stenosis, or decrease in midfacial growth was noted. Midfacial degloving with endoscopic guidance in selected cases is a cosmetically appealing option for lesions not otherwise resectable by standard midface degloving.

Management of oropharyngeal trauma in children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the indications for admission, requisite imaging studies, and urgent medical or surgical intervention. DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 26 children (age range, 5 months to 14 years) who were seen by the otolaryngology service in the emergency department at the Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, from 1985 to 1993 and who were diagnosed as having oropharyngeal trauma. We specifically looked for common findings in the history and physical examination on initial presentation to predict the necessary steps in evaluation and management. SETTING: Tertiary care pediatric referral center. RESULTS: Indications for admission were (1) concern about neurologic injury, (2) concern about vascular injury, (3) radiographic evidence of retropharyngeal free air or abscess, (4) pneumomediastinum, and (5) unreliable adult supervision at home. Six patients required surgery; 3 underwent retropharyngeal aspiration or incision and drainage procedures; 2 required neck explorations; and 1, who had an impaled foreign body in the parapharyngeal space, underwent surgical extraction. There were no vascular, neurologic, or other permanent injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Oropharyngeal trauma may result in palatal and posterior pharyngeal wall injury requiring closure of lacerations and management of retropharyngeal free air. Rarely does an injury lead to retropharyngeal abscess or significant pneumomediastinum. Lateral oropharyngeal injuries require increased concern about potential neurovascular impairment. However, neither the mechanism of injury nor the degree of injury correlates with the potential for neurovascular sequelae. Since neurovascular involvement may not become clinically apparent until days or weeks after the incident, admission for observation alone should be based on the distance from the patient's home to the hospital and on the level of reliable adult supervision. Indications for medical and surgical treatment of internal carotid artery thrombosis remain controversial.

Minimizing upper lip and incisor teeth paresthesias in approaches to transsphenoidal surgery.

Currently popular transsphenoidal approaches to the pituitary include sublabial, external rhinoplasty, alotomy, and transnasal techniques. The conventional sublabial approach remains the workhorse method despite postoperative lip edema, potential difficulty for denture wearers, and troublesome persistent upper lip and incisor teeth numbness. We traced the courses of the nasopalatine, infraorbital, and anterior superior alveolar nerves in 41 cadaveric half-head dissection to determine the exact contribution to upper lip and incisor teeth innervation. We then conducted a retrospective patient survey of 25 sublabial, 28 external rhinoplasty, 23 alotomy, and 12 transnasal approaches to the hypophysis to assess the incidence of upper lip and incisor teeth paresthesias lasting longer than 1 month. We conclude that rhinoplastic techniques are superior to the sublabial approach in limiting upper lip and incisor teeth numbness without compromising neurosurgical exposure for hypophysectomy.

Pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax from blunt cervical trauma in children.

Minor blunt cervical injuries in children are relatively common occurrences leading to serious sequelae in only rare circumstances, yet sufficient impact of even a seemingly minor event may lead to a significant posterior tracheal wall laceration, resulting in pneumomediastinum with or without pneumothorax. Three cases demonstrate how the mechanism of injury does not always match either the severity of initial presentation or the consequent necessary level of emergent management. Pneumomediastinum without pneumothorax often can be treated conservatively; however, the onset of massive pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax may necessitate both tracheotomy and tube thoracostomy as initial treatment.

Control of early postoperative pain with bupivacaine in pediatric tonsillectomy.

Early postoperative pain following pediatric tonsillectomy remains a significant obstacle to speedy recovery and smooth convalescence. Inadequate analgesia causes poor oral intake and occasionally requires overnight hospitalization in same day surgery practices. Several otolaryngologists anecdotally support intraoperative infiltration with a long-acting amide anesthetic, bupivacaine hydrochloride, for postoperative pain control. However, no previous study supports these claims. At the National Naval Medical Center, a prospective, randomized, double-blinded study was undertaken in fifty patients, ages 3 to 16 years old. After tonsil resection, either 0.5% bupivacaine or saline was injected into each fossa. We asked the parents three questions. First, what was the level of pain at 2, 6 and 10 hours postoperatively? Second, what was the amount of oral intake during the first 10 hours after surgery? And third, how many doses of oral acetaminophen elixir were administered over the first 10 postoperative hours? Bupivacaine administration caused no adverse effects. There was no difference in perceived pain level between bupivacaine and saline groups at 2, 6 and 10 hours. Oral intake levels over the first 10 hours were similar. Although bupivacaine group patients received fewer doses of oral acetaminophen, the difference between groups was not statistically significant. We conclude that bupivacaine is a safe medication for infiltration, but offers no advantage over saline in the control of early postoperative pain in pediatric tonsillectomy.

Oxyphil cell neoplasms of the thyroid gland.

Despite several extensive reviews of the literature within the past decade, the treatment of oxyphil cell tumors of the thyroid gland remains controversial. The foremost questions today concern the acceptable criteria for diagnosis of oxyphil malignancies and the appropriate surgical treatment of these neoplasms. This review provides a forum for debate on the treatment of oxyphil neoplasms, with emphasis on their unique histopathologic features and unpredictable clinical behavior.

Control of early postoperative pain with bupivacaine in adult local tonsillectomy.

Early postoperative pain following tonsillectomy remains a significant obstacle to speedy recovery and smooth convalescence. Inadequate analgesia causes poor oral intake and occasionally requires overnight hospitalization in same-day surgery practices. Although several otolaryngologists anecdotally support intraoperative infiltration with long-acting anesthetic agents for postoperative pain control, to our knowledge, no previous study confirms this claim. In a prior investigation, we found no difference between bupivacaine hydrochloride and saline placebo in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy. In this trial, we performed a similar study in an adult population. Fifty-one patients undergoing tonsillectomy with local anesthesia were randomized into bupivacaine or saline placebo groups. Patients provided the following data: (1) pain level; (2) oral intake; (3) number of pain medication doses; and (4) level of pain on jaw opening, all at 10 hours postoperatively. Bupivacaine administration resulted in no adverse effects. No difference was noted in pain level, amount of oral intake, or pain on full jaw opening. Bupivacaine group patients received fewer though not statistically significant doses of pain medication than placebo group patients. We conclude that bupivacaine is a safe medication but offers no advantage in the control of early postoperative pain in adult patients undergoing local tonsillectomy.

Paranasal sinus Burkitt's lymphoma in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive male.

Patients infected with the HIV virus have been reported to develop several malignant neoplasms, the most frequent of which is Kaposi's sarcoma. Although an increasing number of lymphomas, primarily non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, have been described who are HIV seropositive, few cases of Burkitt's lymphoma have been reported in patients. We report a case of an HIV-seropositive man who had paranasal sinus Burkitt's lymphoma underlying chronic maxillary sinusitis. Successful remission was achieved with chemotherapy.