The Laryngoscope
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluation of a teaching tool to increase the accuracy of pilot balloon palpation for measuring tracheostomy tube cuff pressure.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a novel teaching tool to improve health care providers' ability to inflate tracheostomy tube cuffs to the appropriate pressure. ⋯ The novel teaching tool evaluated in this study is simple, easily reproducible, and low-cost. Its use leads to long-lasting improvement in health care providers' ability to more accurately inflate tracheostomy tube cuffs to safe pressures.
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The number of women in medicine has increased considerably over the past 3 decades, and they now comprise approximately half of medical school matriculants. We examine whether gender disparities in research productivity are present throughout various specialties and compare these findings to those previously described among otolaryngologists. ⋯ Female academic physicians have decreased research productivity relative to men, which may be one factor contributing to their underrepresentation at the level of professor and departmental leader relative to their proportions in junior academic ranks. Potential explanations may include fewer woman physicians in the age groups during which higher academic ranks are attained, greater family responsibilities, and greater involvement in clinical service and educational contributions.
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To determine if adenotonsillar hypertrophy is an isolated factor in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), or if it is part of larger spectrum of cervical lymphoid hypertrophy. ⋯ Children with OSA have larger volumes of deep cervical lymph nodes and adenotonsillar tissue than controls. This finding suggests a new paradigm in the understanding of pediatric OSA, and has ramifications for future research and clinical care.
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A "July effect" of increased complications when new trainees begin residency has been reported widely by the media. We sought to determine the effect of admission month on in-hospital mortality, complications, length of hospitalization, and costs for patients undergoing head and neck cancer (HNCA) surgery. ⋯ These data do not support evidence of a "July effect" or an increase in morbidity or mortality at teaching hospitals providing HNCA surgical care.
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To develop and validate a cough severity index (CSI) which quantifies patients' symptoms associated with upper airway chronic cough and to provide a tool for treatment outcome measures. ⋯ The CSI is a short, simple instrument that can be used in the clinical setting to quantify a patient's symptoms of chronic cough of upper airway origin. It represents a statistically reliable, valid, and clinically relevant instrument that can be used to measure treatment outcomes for chronic cough.