Intraoperative neural monitoring during head and neck surgery in patients with concern for cervical spine instability.

Cervical and craniocervical instability are associated with catastrophic procedural outcomes. We discuss three individuals who required otolaryngologic surgical intervention: two with symptomatic spinal instability and one in whom spinal stability was unable to be assessed. Two cases were managed with procedural positioning precautions and evoked potential monitoring, and the other with procedural positioning precautions alone. Methods of monitoring and triggers for repositioning are discussed. This series is intended to discuss the approach and potential added value of evoked potential monitoring for risk mitigation in pediatric patients with concern for cervical spine instability.

Granulomatous Inflammation Causing Severe Supraglottic Edema and Airway Obstruction in a Pediatric Patient.

A 12-year-old male with a family history of inflammatory bowel disease presented with sleep-disordered breathing and was found to have chronic, granulomatous swelling of the supraglottic larynx. His airway was managed with tracheostomy, regular interval laryngeal steroid injections, supraglottoplasty, and "pepper pot" CO2 laser resurfacing leading to eventual decannulation. Due to the non-necrotic nature of the granulomatous inflammation, as well as the patient's family history of inflammatory bowel disease, the leading diagnosis was Crohn disease, but isolated laryngeal sarcoidosis could not be ruled out. There are only 13 reported cases of laryngeal manifestations of Crohn disease in the literature, with only 2 cases occurring in pediatric patients. This case report adds to this body of literature and discusses strategies for managing granulomatous supraglottic edema when definitive diagnosis is not fully clear.

Opioid prescribing to preteen children undergoing ambulatory surgery in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Overuse and misuse of opioids is a continuing crisis. The most common reason for children to receive opioids is postoperative pain, and they are often prescribed more than needed. The amount of opioids prescribed varies widely, even for minor ambulatory procedures. This study uses a large national sample to describe filled opioid prescriptions to preteen patients after all ambulatory surgical procedures and common standard procedures. METHODS: We analyzed Truven Health MarketScan data for July 2012 through December 2016 to perform descriptive analyses of opioid fills by age and geographic area, change over time, second opioid fills in opioid-naïve patients, and variation in the types and amount of medication prescribed for 18 common and standard procedures in otolaryngology, urology, general surgery, ophthalmology, and orthopedics. RESULTS: Over 10% of preteen children filled perioperative opioid prescriptions for ambulatory surgery in the period 2012 to 2016. The amount prescribed varied widely (median 5 days' supply, IQR 3-8, range 1-90), even for the most minor procedures, for example, frenotomy (median 4 days' supply, IQR 2-5, range 1-60). Codeine fills were common despite safety concerns. Second opioid prescriptions were filled by opioid-naïve patients after almost all procedures studied. The rate of prescribing declined significantly over time and varied substantially by age and across census regions. CONCLUSIONS: We identified opioid prescribing outside of the norms of standard practice in all of the specialties studied. Standardizing perioperative opioid prescribing and developing guidelines on appropriate prescribing for children may reduce the opioids available for misuse and diversion.

Delayed Presentation of Submucosal Retained Toothbrush from Self-Inflicted Injury in Patient with Schizophrenia.

Foreign body ingestion occurs in not only children but also adults, particularly those with history of neurologic disease, alcohol use, or psychiatric disease. We present the case of a 40-year-old male with schizophrenia who presented to the emergency room with a long history of pharyngeal foreign body sensation which had recently progressed to include trismus, odynophagia, and dyspnea. Flexible laryngoscopy demonstrated fullness of the right posterior pharyngeal wall and computed tomography (CT) showed a linear opaque foreign body extending from the level of the oropharynx to the thyroid ala. Further history elicited that he stabbed himself in the pharynx two years prior with a toothbrush following a command hallucination. The toothbrush was removed uneventfully via an external approach. The patient was discharged with psychiatry follow-up. This case is unusual due to the submucosal location of the foreign body and the length of retention. It demonstrates the atypical nature which patients with comorbid psychiatric illness may present following foreign body injury and the use of an external surgical approach for the removal of a retained foreign body based on CT reconstruction.