Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst

Image from Wikipedia This quote probably ranks somewhere in the top 3 among surgeons when operating on "challenging" cases. It simply is not enough to know how to perform an operation, but also plan for any possible complications that might occur when minutes if not seconds count. Certainly, the surgeon does not want to waste time coming up with a plan B or C on-the-fly if something untoward happens... but rather, it has already been figured out even before the initial incision wa…

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Spit Test to Monitor for Oral Cancer

Image courtesy of marin at  FreeDigitalPhotos.net HPV oral cancer is an increasingly common cancer afflicting heterosexual individuals. The main way of diagnosing is by biopsy after an abnormal finding on oral examination . The main way of determining whether the cancer has come back after treatment is also by regular oral examinations. However, Johns Hopkins researchers may have developed a "spit" test that can detect whether oral cancer may have recurred after treatment befor…

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Am I a Candidate for the Bionic Ear???

Given the media exposure (and popular YouTube videos ) of patients getting their "bionic ear" turned on with subsequent tears of joy... it is no wonder that patients disappointed in their "ordinary" hearing aids come knocking on their ENT's door desiring a bionic ear as well. Otherwise known as a cochlear implant , the device is actually implanted through the skull and directly into the cochlea rather than placed on the outside of the ear (watch video ). Unfortunat…

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Are Surgeons Dumber than Anesthesiologists?

The British Medical Journal in 2011 published a multicenter prospective comparative study comparing the intelligence of orthopedic surgeons and anesthesiologists. Before I give you the answer, a little history... Traditionally, orthopedic surgeons have the unfortunate stereotype in the medical community of being  strong but stupid. Although making fun of orthopedic surgeons is a popular past-time among physicians giving rise to a number of jokes including: What do you call two orthopaedic…

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New Video on Tongue Tie Release Procedure

Tongue tie is a common problem whereby a flap of tissue anchors the tongue tip to the bottom of the mouth. With tongue tie , it is impossible for a patient to stick the tongue straight out (licking an ice cream is impossible) and may potentially lead to problems with feeding in a newborn baby, speech articulation in a young school-age child, and french kissing in teenagers and older. Due to the frequency at which tongue tie release is performed and the questions parents often have about h…

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“The Who" Roger Daltrey Underwent Vocal Cord Surgery

A story was published in December 2010 about Roger Daltrey's experience with losing his voice and requiring vocal cord surgery literally 6 weeks before he was to sing at the Superbowl February 2010. Fortunately, under the expert care of Dr. Zeitels at Massachusetts General Voice Center , he was successfully treated and recovered his voice in time to sing during the 2010 Superbowl half-time show in Miami. Read the story here .

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