Fifteen-minute consultation: Polydipsia, polyuria or both.

Children can present with polydipsia and/or polyuria for a number of reasons. We will discuss polydipsia and polyuria, how a child may present and how to investigate further in order to establish the cause. We highlight the important areas to cover in the history and examination of a child presenting with polydipsia and/or polyuria.

Bell's palsy in pregnancy: A scoping review of risk factors, treatment and outcomes.

Objective: There are limited studies reporting on Bell's palsy and pregnancy. Our study aimed to evaluate risk factors, current treatment options and facial function outcomes in women who developed Bell's palsy in pregnancy. To our knowledge this is the first review analyzing these factors. Data sources/review methods: A search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Sciences and Scopus was carried out. Studies describing risk factors, treatment and/or facial function outcomes of Bell's palsy in pregnancy were included. PRISMA-Scr guidelines were followed. Results: The search yielded 392 abstracts, of which 15 studies were included for analysis. It was not possible to perform a meta-analysis due to small numbers and quality of studies. There were 559 patients included from the 15 studies. The third trimester was the most common time for Bell's palsy to occur (n = 364, 65%). Pre-eclampsia was the most common co-morbidity reported. The most common treatment was corticosteroids and the majority of patients had a complete recovery of their palsy (58%, n = 192). Conclusion: This analysis has evaluated all available data concerning risk factors, treatment and facial function outcomes of BP in pregnancy. The third trimester is the most common time for Bell's palsy to occur in pregnancy. There is currently a lack of high quality evidence into this condition in pregnancy. Level of evidence: 1.

The Effect of the 2021 Irish Cyber-Attack on Otolaryngology Outpatient Non-attendance at a Model 4 Hospital in the Post-COVID Era.

Aim This study investigates the rate of non-attendance at ENT outpatient appointments in the post-COVID era and the effect of the 2021 Irish cyber-attack on non-attendance. Methods A retrospective review of the rates of non-attendance in a post-COVID pre-cyber-attack era wherein patients received an automated text message reminder about their appointment was compared to a post-cyber-attack era wherein the text message reminder system was disabled. In addition, these were compared with rates of non-attendance prior to when the reminder system was introduced. Three periods were compared, two weeks prior to the introduction of the text reminder system, two weeks pre-cyber-attack, and two weeks post-cyber-attack. Results Period 1 measured rates of non-attendance prior to the introduction of the text reminder system. Period 2 measured rates of non-attendance at outpatient appointments and consisted of nine clinic days, with two clinics per day. Period 3 similarly measured rates of non-attendance at outpatient appointments and consisted of 10 clinic days, with two clinics per day. The text reminder service was disabled during this collection period because of the cyber-attack. The average non-attendance rate was 16.99% for period 1, 13.00% for period 2, and 16.13% for period 3. A Fisher Exact Test was carried out on data with a p-value set at <0.05. Results reached statistical significance. Conclusion Our data shows non-attendance at ENT outpatient appointments increased without the text reminder system. Over two weeks after the attack, non-attendance increased by approximately 3%, which was statistically significant.