Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: results of a patient questionnaire.

Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate patient satisfaction after uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP).

Methods: One hundred forty-five patients returned surveys in an otolaryngology group. The patients had undergone UPPP for snoring, sleep apnea, or both between April 1, 2000, and April 5, 2005.

Bilateral vocal cord paralysis following blunt trauma to the neck.

Blunt trauma to the anterior neck has been known to cause upper-airway obstruction requiring emergency tracheostomy. We report the case of a 26-year-old man who sustained blunt trauma to the anterior neck in whom upper-airway obstruction developed. Although computed tomography of the neck revealed a thyroid cartilage fracture and a retropharyngeal hematoma, fiberoptic examination of the larynx identified vocal cord paralysis as the primary cause of his upper-airway obstruction.

Partial endoscopic middle turbinectomy augmenting functional endoscopic sinus surgery.

Endoscopic sinus surgery has gained acceptance in the otolaryngologic community as an effective and safe method of treating inflammatory disease of the paranasal sinuses. At our institution, partial endoscopic middle turbinectomy has become a standard component of the procedure and our experience is reported. Middle turbinectomy enhances surgical exposure, specific anatomic anomalies are more completely corrected, and subpopulations of patients at risk for failure because of their underlying disease enjoy decreased rates of synechiae formation and closure of the middle meatus antrostomy when followed over time.

Middle meatus anstrostomy: patency rates and risk factors.

Two hundred patients with chronic sinusitis were operated on using functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) techniques. These patients were followed closely over 3 years. Patency of the endoscopic middle meatotomy was recorded using actuarial life-table methods.