The Lasting Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Surgical Key Indicator Cases for Otolaryngology Residency Education.

Objectives: Early on during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other government as well as medical institutions recommended that surgeons postpone nonessential surgeries. The aim of our study is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on otolaryngology surgical training by evaluating changes in surgical volumes through various time points relative to the height of the pandemic.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all surgical cases performed by the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery department at a tertiary care academic center from 3 time periods: July 1st, 2018, to June 30th, 2019; July 1st, 2019, to June 30th, 2020; and July 1st, 2020, to June 30th, 2021.

Opioid sparing multimodal analgesia treats pain after head and neck microvascular reconstruction.

Objective: To compare pain control (opioid consumption and postsurgical pain scores) in head and neck (H&N) free flap reconstruction patients who undergo traditional means of postoperative analgesia including use of opioids versus a novel protocol that includes ketamine and gabapentin.

Methods: Single-institution retrospective cohort study.

Results: Eighty-six patients who underwent H&N free flap reconstruction from 2015 to 2018 were included.

Genealogical databases as a tool for extending follow-up in clinical reviews.

Background: Long-term follow-up in clinical reviews often presents significant difficulty with conventional medical records alone. Publicly accessible genealogical databases such as Ancestry.com provide another avenue for obtaining extended follow-up and added outcome information.

Mitigation of Tumor-Associated Fibroblast-Facilitated Head and Neck Cancer Progression With Anti-Hepatocyte Growth Factor Antibody Ficlatuzumab.

Importance: Ficlatuzumab can be used to treat head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) by inhibiting c-Met receptor-mediated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

Objective: To understand the effect of ficlatuzumab on HNSCC proliferation, migration, and invasion.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The effects of ficlatuzumab on HNSCC proliferation, invasion, and migration were tested.