To flex or not to flex: oesophageal soft food bolus obstruction in the modern age.

Background: Oesophageal soft food bolus obstruction is a common presentation to emergency departments. Often these patients are given medication with little evidence of efficacy. Although many cases self-resolve, some require removal of the obstruction.

Transoral robotic surgery without adjuvant therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between surgical margins and local recurrence.

Background: Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) is increasingly employed in the management of oropharyngeal cancer without adjuvant treatment. Attaining safe surgical margins is paramount to preventing local recurrence (LR), but the necessary surgical margin dimension remains contentious.

Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting margin status and LR following TORS without adjuvant therapy for primary OPSCC.

National survey sampling exercise on current practice in channelled local anaesthetic biopsy in suspected head and neck cancer.

Objective: Out-patient channelled endoscopic local anaesthetic biopsy reduces the time to diagnosis and wider use may improve cancer pathway times. This study aimed to assess the practice of ENT surgeons using channelled local anaesthetic biopsy.

Method: A survey was distributed nationally, containing questions about out-patient local anaesthetic biopsy.

Validation of the novel Deep Reality Viewer (DRV) 3D digital stereo viewer in otology surgery.

Purpose: Magnification with accurate optic reproduction of the surgical field is essential in otology surgery, but current technologies are subject to specific disadvantages. This study aims to evaluate a novel 3D digital stereo viewer, the Deep Reality Viewer (DRV), in otology surgery, in comparison to both a 2D monitor and the gold standard of microscopy.

Methods: In this prospective clinical research study, ENT consultants and trainees evaluated visual and practical applications of the DRV.

Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Presenting With Solitary Bony Metastases to the Frontal Bone of the Skull.

A 75-year-old lady was referred to the oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) team with a painless swelling in the midline of her forehead. Investigations diagnosed it as a solitary metastasis of thyroid cancer. Follicular thyroid cancers are known to metastasise to bone; however, bony metastasis to the frontal bone of the skull is very rare.

Low-Grade Chondrosarcoma of the Posterior Cricoid Plate.

This case report presents an unusual case of chondrosarcoma arising from the cricoid cartilage of the larynx. Although these are commonly low-grade malignancies, this patient attended an outpatient respiratory clinic with acute airway obstruction, and went on to require a total laryngectomy due to the size of their tumour.