Perioperative Complications of Percutaneous Dilational Tracheostomy

Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy (PDT) has replaced conventional tracheostomy for long-term intubated patients in many intensive care units (ICUs). In a prospective study carried out between September 1994 and August 1996, 76 patients underwent PDT. In 41 patients, PDT was performed “blind.” In 35 patients it was executed with simultaneous bronchoscopic monitoring. The type and rate of complications of the two techniques were compared. Comparing the groups with and without bronchoscopy, the perioperative complication rate was equivalent (7% vs 6%); however, more severe complications occurred in the group without bronchoscopy (one death due to tension pneumothorax, two cases of perforating the rear tracheal wall) than in the group with bronchoscopy (two cases of intratracheal hemorrhage). PDT is a suitable bedside method for ICU patients undergoing long-term ventilation. Simultaneous endoscopy minimizes the severity of complications.     

Review of Percutaneous Tracheostomy

The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of the four known methods of percutaneous tracheostomy. Perioperative, postoperative, and late complication rates were generated for each method after a complete literature review identified 1684 percutaneous tracheostomy patients reported in 40 series. Two methods, the Toye and the guide wire dilator forceps (GWDF) methods, have been the subject of few investigations. Two other methods have been extensively studied. A high perioperative complication rate was calculated for the Rapitrac? method, whereas percutaneous dilational tracheostomy (PDT) has complication rates similar to those reported for standard operative tracheostomy. A retrospective review of 22 patients who underwent PDT at a local community hospital confirmed a “learning curve” for this technique that had been previously suggested. Review of the literature suggests that PDT can be safe and cost-effective for selected patients, but a learning curve for this technique exists that dictates caution, experience, and preparation on the part of any surgeon who wishes to add percutaneous tracheostomy to his or her repertoire.     

微创人工耳蜗植入术及常规人工耳蜗植入术临床比较

目的通过微创人工耳蜗植入术与常规人工耳蜗植入术的临床效果比较,探讨微创人工耳蜗植入术的临床优势。方法回顾性分析121例人工耳蜗植入患者,根据人工耳蜗植入术式的不同分为微创人工耳蜗植入术组(微创组)及常规人工耳蜗植入术组(常规组),比较两组患者的手术时间、电极植入情况、手术切口及并发症的不同,分析两种术式之间的特点。结果 121例人工耳蜗电极均全植入鼓阶,成功率100%。微创组与常规组的平均手术总时间分别为89.53±12.42分钟、92.30±14.16分钟,电极植入平均用时分别为112.16±16.01秒、117.05±26.90秒,平均电极植入次数分别为1.07±0.26次、1.22±0.49次。两组的手术总时间无明显差别(P>0.05),电极植入用时亦无明显差别(P>0.05),微创组平均电极植入次数较常规组少(P<0.05)。微创组及常规组的手术切口长度分别为2.53±0.12cm、8.30±0.56cm,微创组的手术切口长度明显小于常规组(P<0.05)。微创组术后未发现皮下血肿及感染,常规组术后出现皮下血肿3例(4.76%),微创组术后皮下血肿率与常规组比较无明显变化(P>0.05)。微创组和常规组的术后眩晕出现率分别为5.88%、21.83%,微创组术后眩晕率低于常规组术后眩晕率(P<0.05)。结论与常规人工耳蜗植入术相比较,微创人工耳蜗植入术在手术时间不增加的前提下,可确保电极位于鼓阶,并具有外形美观,手术切口小,术中创伤小,术后并发症少等优点。     

Indications and Complications of Tracheostomy in Children

Indications for tracheostomy have changed and its complications are more common in children.Aim: To evaluate the indications and complications of tracheostomies performed in children.Materials and Methods: A retrospective study with review of medical records of patients aged from 1 day to 16 years who underwent tracheostomy at a university hospital during the period of August 2000 to July 2008. We assessed data on age, gender, indications and intra and postoperative complications.Results: Fifty-eight children under 16 years of age underwent tracheotomy during the study period. The mean age was 3.7 years. Airway obstruction was the main indication for surgery (n = 40; 69%). The incidence of complications in the postoperative period was 19% (11 patients), the majority happening during the late postoperative period. A further complication observed was cannula clogging. There were no complications related to the procedure during the surgery.Conclusion: The main indications for tracheostomy in children were airway obstruction and prolonged OTI. The most frequent postoperative complications were cannula obstruction and decannulation. The indications and complications observed were similar to those reported in the literature by other services.     

A Comparison of Evoked Response Audiometry and Routine Clinical Audiometry

Auditory thresholds were determined by evoked response audiometry (ERA) and by routine clinical audiometry at two frequencies (500 and 2 000 Hz) for 50 adult patients by five audiologists. The differences between ERA results and routine audiometric results in this study suggest caution in the clinical use of data obtained by ERA.     

A Prospective Comparison of Scalpel Versus Bipolar Scissors in the Elevation of Radial Forearm Fasciocutaneous Free Flaps

Objectives/Hypothesis The radial forearm fasciocutaneous free flap has become the workhorse for reconstruction of head and neck ablative defects. A location distal to the head and neck allows this flap to be elevated concurrent with the ablation. Most commonly, the flap is elevated under tourniquet control. This involves a primary ischemic insult with a certain amount of hemorrhage after the tourniquet is released. Bipolar scissors are a new method of dissection. They may allow for a speedier dissection with a concomitant decrease in ischemic time. Their hemostatic properties may control hemorrhage after use of the tourniquet. Study Design A prospective study of patients undergoing radial forearm free flaps over a 12‐month period at a tertiary care referral center was undertaken. Results Forty patients were entered into the study, flaps were elevated with scalpel (20) and with bipolar scissors (20). Mean time under tourniquet was 39 minutes (range, 30–56 min) with scalpel compared with 27 minutes (range, 21–31 min) with bipolar scissors (P <.001). Total mean time of elevation (including control of hemostasis and pedicle dissection) for scalpel elevation was 50 minutes (range, 35–61 min) compared with 32 minutes (range, 20–41 min) for bipolar scissors elevation (P <.001). Mean blood loss was 46 mL (range, 15–110 mL) in the scalpel elevation group compared with 14 mL (range, 0–50 mL) in the bipolar scissors elevation group (P <.001). Complications at the donor site were equal between groups. Conclusions Bipolar scissors are a safe, efficient method for elevating radial forearm free flaps.     

感染耳前瘘管的临床特征和手术治疗

目的 探讨感染耳前瘘管的临床特征及有效手术治疗方法;方法 总结分析154例165侧感染耳前瘘管的临床表现特征;采用广泛局部切除法切除瘘口、瘘管、感染灶及相关耳廓软骨;需要时酌情选用适合的皮瓣修复缺损.结果 普通型耳前瘘管142例153侧,瘘口在外耳道口前上方区域;变异型耳前瘘管共12例/侧,分别开口于耳轮脚、外耳道内、...     

Clinical Diagnoses Associated With Histologic Findings of Fibrotic Tissue and New Bone in the Inner Ear

Fibrotic tissue or new bone occurs following inner ear inflammation, fracture, or surgery. The prevalence is unknown and was investigated using the National Temporal Bone, Hearing and Balance Pathology Resource Registry database. A search yielded 264 temporal bones with diagnoses of otosclerosis, tumor, Meniere's disease, meningitis, labyrinthitis, chronic otitis media, autoimmune disease, temporal bone fracture, or sensorineural hearing loss. All autoimmune cases contained some new bone, whereas only 20% to 30% of the labyrinthitis/meningitis cases were reported to contain new bone. Otosclerosis, Meniere's disease, and otitis media had relatively few cases containing new bone. Although new bone may derive from surgical trauma, it is also likely to be a result of the disease process. It seems that all these disease processes may contain a common feature that acts as a stimulus to induce fibrosis or bone growth in the inner ear.     

Surgical and Audiologic Comparison Between Sophono and Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids Implantation

Objectives Bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHA) occasionally cause soft tissue problems due to abutment. Because Sophono does not have abutment penetrating skin, it is thought that Sophono has no soft tissue problem relating to abutment. On the other hand, transcutaneous device’s output is reported to be 10 to 15 dB lower than percutaneous device. Therefore, in this study, Sophono and BAHA were compared to each other from surgical and audiological points of view.Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 9 Sophono patients and 10 BAHA patients. In BAHA cases, single vertical incision without skin thinning technique was done. We compared Sophono to BAHA by operation time, wound healing time, postoperative complications, postoperative hearing gain after switch on, and postoperative air-bone gap.Results The mean operation time was 60 minutes for Sophono and 25 minutes for BAHA. The wound healing time was 14 days for Sophono and 28 days for BAHA. No major intraoperative complication was observed. Skin problem was not observed in the 2 devices for the follow-up period. Postoperative hearing gain of bilateral aural atresia patients was 39.4 dB for BAHA (n=4) and 25.5 dB for Sophono (n=5). However, the difference was not statistically significant. In all patients included in this study, the difference of air-bone gap between two groups was 16.6 dB at 0.5 kHz and 18.2 dB at 4 kHz. BAHA was statistically significantly better than Sophono.Conclusion Considering the audiologic outcome, BAHA users were thought to have more audiologic benefit than Sophono users. However, Sophono had advantages over BAHA with abutment in cosmetic outcome. Sophono needed no daily skin maintenance and soft tissue complication due to abutment would not happen in Sophono. Therefore, a full explanation about each device is necessary before deciding implantation.     

A Single Blinded Randomized Controlled Study of the Effect of Conventional Oral Hypoglycemic Agents Versus Intensive Short-Term Insulin Therapy on Pure Tone Audiometry in Type II Diabetes Mellitus

Neuropathy is frequently a late complication of diabetes mellitus. Auditory neuropathy and microangiopathy of inner ear are the possible causes of hearing loss in diabetics. To study the correlation between glycaemic control and hearing threshold in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and to determine the differences of hearing threshold between groups treated with different modality. This single blind randomized controlled study was performed at the Department of Medicine and Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) between 1st May 2003 and 31st September 2004. This study was approved by Research Ethics Committee (code number FF-137). Subjects were randomized into two groups. Group 1 were patients treated with conventional oral hypoglycemic agents. The patients in group 2 were those treated with insulin injection. The subjects were seen 4?weekly for 3?months. Audiometric test were performed in all subjects at each visit. Blood were taken for fasting blood glucose, Hb1Ac, and fructosamine at every visit to determine the glycaemic controls of the subject. They were 11 patients (22 ears) treated with oral hypoglycemic agents and 17 patients treated (34 ears) with subcutaneous insulin. There is no significant difference between mean pure tone threshold before and after treatment at all frequencies in both groups. There is also no significance different in fasting glucose level and fructosamine. However, there is significant difference HbA1c levels between the two groups after treatment (P?相似文献