A rapid recovery protocol for head and neck oncology patients undergoing resection, free flap reconstruction, and tracheostomy: a feasibility study.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) for head and neck oncology patients was first introduced in 2017 and was found to improve patient outcomes, in line with results from other surgical specialties. This article presents a rapid recovery protocol (RRP) to further enhance perioperative care in conjunction with the ERAS protocol, for patients undergoing ablative surgery together with free flap reconstruction and tracheostomy. A prospective multidisciplinary approach was adopted to identify a specific cohort of patients who would benefit from the RRP.

Unexpected difficult airway management in a transgender female patient.

A transgender female patient, who had previously undergone gender-confirming feminisation surgery to the face and larynx, was scheduled for thoracic surgery requiring one-lung ventilation. We encountered unexpected difficult airway management and difficulty inserting an appropriately-sized double-lumen tube. A size 41Fr double-lumen tube, which is selected commonly for biological males, was used eventually for lung isolation and subsequently exchanged for a size 6.

A rare clinical case - Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura.

We present a case of a 58 years old man with a large heterogeneous and well circumscribed soft tissue mass arising from the right pleural surface, found at a computer tomography of his chest. This mass after complete resection through a right lateral open thoracotomy, proved to be a Solitary Fibrous Tumor, previously known as 'benign mesothelioma'. This tumor is usually discovered at routine chest X-rays since patients are either asymptomatic or report atypical symptoms.