Does the current oral and maxillofacial surgery training pathway disadvantage female trainees?

Women make up a minority of OMFS consultants and trainees. The long training pathway has been highlighted as a barrier for prospective applicants. Maternity leave and less than full-time training extend time in training. Efforts to streamline and shorten the training pathway will help ensure the diversity and inclusivity of OMFS.

Streptococcus constellatus causing bony destruction secondary to odontogenic infection: three rare cases.

Streptococcus constellatus is part of the Str milleri subgroup. It is a commensal organism that is often present in the oral flora, and has been implicated in pyogenic infections of the central nervous system, abdomen, and deep neck spaces. We present three patients within our unit who developed bony destruction in the facial bones and base of the skull after odontogenic infections. Str constellatus, a known oral and gut commensal that may cause atypical presentations in odontogenic abscesses, was cultured in all cases.

The anterolateral fasciocutaneous thigh flap for circumferential pharyngeal defects--can it really replace the jejunum?

Free jejunal transfer has been used in pharyngeal reconstruction for many years, but many have criticised it as being unreliable, poorly tolerant of radiotherapy, and susceptible to stenosis and dysphagia. Recently, the trend has been to use the anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap to overcome these problems, and many authors have reported good results. At the University of Birmingham we used the jejunal free flap for pharyngeal reconstruction for many years, but in view of recent reports we changed to the ALT flap. We retrospectively analysed all patients who had pharyngeal reconstruction with an ALT flap in our unit since changing from the jejunal flap. Only circumferential defects were included. Six patients had pharyngeal resection and required reconstruction of a circumferential defect between 2007 and 2010. All the defects were reconstructed with a tubed ALT flap. No flaps failed and there was no partial necrosis. However, stricturing still occurred and the diet of many patients was restricted. Three patients required the flap to be replaced with a jejunal free flap. Although no flaps failed, we have not been able to replicate the results of other surgeons and have therefore abandoned use of the ALT flap and returned to use of the jejunal free flap for the reconstruction of circumferential pharyngeal defects.