Risks and Safety of Extended Auricular Therapy: A Review of Reviews and Case Reports of Adverse Events.

Objective: Auricular acupuncture (AA) and extended auricular therapy (AT) are a part of acupuncture practice shown to benefit patients with pain, anxiety, and other conditions, with cost-effective access enhanced when given in a group setting. Yet there are safety concerns and risks, perhaps unnecessary risks, that attend embedded, indwelling needles applied to the ear as a means of extended AT.

Methods: Electronic searches were conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) for "auriculotherapy," "auricular acupuncture" or "auricular acupressure," "safety," "adverse events," "chondritis," and "perichondritis," with additional manual review of titles, links, and reference lists.

Selection of pediatric patients for use of the Passy-Muir valve for speech production.

A potential side effect of tracheotomy in the pediatric population is poor speech development. It has been well documented that children with tracheotomies have delays in expressive and receptive language out of proportion to the child's degree of intellectual functioning. While numerous methods of augmentative devices have been proposed, none are ideal for the child with a tracheotomy.

Reconstruction of the pediatric airway with an open stented tracheotomy tube.

Reconstructive techniques for the stenotic pediatric airway have greatly enhanced the otolaryngologists ability to decannulate the tracheotomy-dependent child. Stents have played an important role in this process by both maintaining the reconstructed lumen and acting as a scaffold. However, decannulation is often not achieved after the first surgical intervention with some patients requiring two, three or more procedures.

The role of adenoids in the development of normal speech following palate repair.

The controversy surrounding the various approaches to palate repair continues unabated. Issues which have been studied relative to the development of normal speech following palate repair have included surgical technique and the timing of surgery. However, regardless of the various refinements in surgery, a percentage of children require secondary surgery to resolve velopharyngeal insufficiency.