Safety of outpatient admission and comparison of different surgical techniques in adult tonsillectomy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the safety of outpatient admission and the effects of surgical technique in tonsillectomy operations of adult patients. METHODS: The digital database was scanned for patients aged ≥ 15 years that underwent tonsillectomy in our institution between years 2014 and 2018. Demographic and clinical characteristics, the surgical technique, length of stay (LOS) in hospital, re-admissions after discharge, complications and interventions performed were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 276 patients met the inclusion criteria, comprising 139 (50.4%) females and 137 (49.6%) males with a mean age of 27.17 ± 9.41 years. The most common indication was recurrent tonsillitis (n = 223, 80.8%), and surgical techniques used were bipolar scissors (CURIS®, Sutter Medizintechnik, Germany) (n = 137, 49.6%), cold dissection (n = 75, 27.2%) and/or plasma blade (PEAK Surgical, Medtronic, USA) (n = 64, 23.2%). A total of 43 (15.5%) re-admissions from 37 (13.4%) patients were recorded because of bleeding (n = 33, 70.2%) and/or odynodysphagia (n = 13, 27.7%). Non-surgical interventions were sufficient in 32 (74.4%) cases, while surgical interventions were required in 11 (25.6%) patients. In patients where "hot" techniques (bipolar scissors, plasma blade) were used and in patients with complaints in the first 24 h postoperatively, significantly increased rates of elongated LOS values for more than 1 day were determined (p < 0.01, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Adult tonsillectomy is a safe surgical procedure with low complication, re-operation and mortality rates. Significantly increased rates of elongated LOS values for more than 1 day and re-admissions after discharge were determined in those patients having complications in the first 24 h postoperatively. Cold dissection seems to be more advisable than hot techniques for outpatient tonsillectomy among adult patients.

The Effect of Rosmarinic Acid on Wound Healing of Nasal Mucosa in the Rats.

BACKGROUND: The nose can be damaged by environmental pollutants and foreign bodies, as well as a result of trauma, infection or surgical interventions. Proper healing of the damaged nasal mucosa is important for health. OBJECTIVE: There is no study in the literature investigating the effects of rosmarinic acid on mucosal healing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rosmarinic acid on nasal mucosal healing. METHODS: 21 male, adult Spraque Dawley albino rats were divided into three groups as the control group, the local treatment group in which rosmarinic acid was applied locally to the nasal mucosa, and the systemic treatment group in which rosmarinic acid was injected intraperitoneally. The wound area was obtained by creating a trauma area by inserting a 10 mm interdental brush through the right nasal nostril into the right nasal cavities of all animals. For the following 15 days, the treatment agent was applied as indicated once a day and on the 15th day the animals were decapitated and tissue samples taken from the nasal mucosa were prepared for histopathological examination. The preparations were examined in terms of cellular hyperplasia, goblet cell hypertrophy and degeneration, leukocyte infiltration, cilia loss and degeneration, edema and vascular dilatation, and they have been classified into four categories as mild (+), moderate (++), severe (+++) and very severe (++++). RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of all parameters evaluated, and there is a decrease in the intensity of the parameters with transition from the control group to the local group and from there to the systemic group. CONCLUSION: Systemic rosmarinic acid administration showed an enhancing effect on the healing of experimentally induced nasal mucosal injury due to its possible anti-inflammatory effect.

Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials in Patients With Low Vitamin B12 Levels.

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin B12 deficiency-induced hyperhomocysteinemia has been associated with impaired microarterial flow, demyelization, and neuronal damage, resulting in cochlear damage and auditory dysfunction. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the possible vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) abnormalities in patients with vitamin B12 deficiency. MATERIAL AND METHOD: In this prospective study, 37 patients diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency (<220 pg/mL) were compared with 31 audiologically healthy participants with normal B12 levels. Burst-evoked cervical VEMP (cVEMP) measurements were performed on all participants. Additionally, cVEMP responses were analyzed for P1-N1 latency, interpeak amplitude, and amplitude asymmetry ratio. The results of audiometric examination and VEMP records as well as absent responses were evaluated and compared between groups. RESULTS: The rate of absent VEMP responses was twice as high in the patient group than in the healthy control group (12 vs 6 cases, respectively). Moreover, the mean values of interpeak amplitude in both right and left ears were statistically shorter in the patient group than the control group (P values = .024 and .007, respectively). Similarly, the mean amplitude asymmetry ratio was statistically higher in the patient group than the control group (P = .050). There were no statistically significant differences in latency responses between groups. Furthermore, positive, statistically significant correlation was detected between values of the left P1-N1 interpeak amplitude and vitamin B12 levels (r = 0.287, P = .037). CONCLUSIONS: Increased rates of absent VEMPs and decreased amplitudes with normal latencies are attributed to peripheral vestibular hypofunction in patients with vitamin B12 deficiency.

The Prognostic Value of Circulating Inflammatory Cell Counts in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and the Effect of Cardiovascular Risk Factors.

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies suggest that elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are poor prognostic factors in sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). We aimed to investigate the accuracy of this hypothesis by taking into account the effect of cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors. METHODS: Medical records of 122 patients with SSNHL were reviewed retrospectively and grouped into 2 as; patients without CVR (group 1; n = 68) and patients having CVR (group 2; n = 54). Moreover, 60 control cases who did not have SSNHL were also included and grouped into 2 as; group 3 (n = 30) with CVR and group 4 (n = 30) healthy controls without having SSNHL or CVRs. Neutrophil (N), lymphocyte (L), platelet (Plt), NLR, and PLR between the groups and their relationship with the severity of hearing loss, recovery rates, and audiogram configurations were analyzed. RESULTS: The highest N and NLR values were in group 1 and were significantly higher than the values of group 4 (P < .05, P < .01). There was no significant relationship between the groups in terms of L, Plt, or PLR values. The highest NLR and PLR values were determined in SSNHL patients with mild hearing loss, complete recovery, and up-sloping audiogram configuration (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated levels of N and NLR may be considered as strong laboratory findings showing an inflammatory response in the diagnosis of SSNHL, but the presence of CVR factors does not seem to increase the inflammatory response in SSNHL as expected. In patients with SSNHL, NLR and PLR elevation may indicate better prognosis.

The effect of rosmarinic acid on the prevention of myringosclerosis.

OBJECTIVES: Myringosclerosis commonly occurs as a long-term complication of ventilation during the treatment of otitis media. We aimed to determine the effects of rosmarinic acid as an antioxidant on experimentally induced myringosclerosis. METHODS: Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 250-300 g, were unilaterally myringotomized and randomly separated into three groups. Group 1 received no treatment (control group) (n = 8); Group 2 received topical rosmarinic acid (n = 8); Group 3 received oral rosmarinic acid (n = 8). On the twenty-first day, the right ears were examined by otomicroscope and findings of myringosclerosis were recorded. Finally, all of the rats were euthanized and the tympanic membrane (TM) thickness and the severity of middle ear mucosal inflammation were evaluated histopathologically. RESULTS: The myringosclerosis severity, TM thickness, and inflammation scores were found to be significantly higher in the control group than in the topical and systemic treatment groups (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in terms of TM thickness and inflammation scores between the topical and systemic treatment groups (p > 0.05). While moderate and severe myringosclerosis were higher in the control group, mild myringosclerosis was found to be higher in both treatment groups. CONCLUSION: The local and oral administration of rosmarinic acid suppressed inflammation, reduced TM thickness, and prevented the development of myringosclerosis in myringotomized rats.

The effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on tympanosclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on tympanosclerosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two male Sprague Dawley rats were separated into 4 groups as CAPE (n = 10), alcohol (n = 10), control (n = 8) and normal (n = 4) groups. All tympanic membranes except normal group were myringotomised and type 3 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains was injected into their middle ears. Myringotomies were repeated for 5 weeks. Intraperitoneal (i.p) CAPE were administrated to the CAPE group at 10 µmol/kg/day and 10% ethyl alcohol administrated to the alcohol group for 5 weeks. The control group were left untreated. Findings of myringosclerosis were recorded by otomicroscope at sixth week. Then, all rats were sacrificed and tympanic membrane thickness and severity of middle ear mucosal inflammation evaluated histopathalogically. RESULTS: Severity of myringosclerosis was significantly higher in the alcohol and control groups compared to the CAPE group (p < 0.001), but was not significant when alcohol and control groups were compared (p = 0.17). The tympanic membrane thickness measured in the alcohol and control groups were significantly higher compared to the CAPE group (p < 0.001), but was not significant when alcohol and control groups were compared (p = 0.17). The severity of inflammation in the middle ear mucosa was significantly higher in the alcohol and control groups compared to the CAPE group (respectively, p < 0.001, p = 0.03). The severity of inflammation in the middle ear mucosa was not significant between alcohol and control groups (p = 0.30). CONCLUSION: CAPE has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on the development of MS in myringotomized rats, so reduces the severity of tympanosclerosis.