The supra-auricular approach for excision of a preauricular sinus has a statistically lower recurrence rate in comparison to the standard technique.

This review was carried out to assess the effectiveness of our protocol designed for the management of ingested foreign bodies. It was a retrospective review of 5240 patients with ingested foreign bodies admitted over a five-year period to the Ear Nose and Throat Unit. These patients were managed according to a standardized protocol which was adopted and modified from our previous study. Under his management protocol, the mean hospital stay was 1.6 days. Flexible oesophagoscopy under local anaesthesia, and rigid oesophagoscopy under general anaesthesia, were performed in 1.5 per cent and 7.7 per cent of cases respectively. Major complications including oesophageal perforation and deep neck abscesses occurred in 0.19 per cent of patients. There was no mortality. This management protocol for ingested foreign bodies was both safe and cost-effective when compared to similar studies reported in the literature.

The satisfactory discriminative ability and test-retest reliability of the COT have been demonstrated in this study. The COT is a feasible method for assessing sense of smell in the Hong Kong Chinese population.

Over a 6.5-y ear period, 5,848 patients who had ingested aforeign body were admitted to the ENT unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. Potentially serious complications develop ed in 12 patients (0.21%). Eight pati ents had an esophageal perforation; three had clinical evidence that their injury had been caused by the fo reign body itself and five were deemed to have been injured iatrogenically during esophagoscopy. One ofthe latter group eventually developed an abscess. Four patients originall y pr esented with an abscess. Three ofthese patients and the patient who later developed an abscess were treated with neck exploration and surgical drainage. One of the patients who initially pr esented with an abscess refused surgical treatment and was treated conservatively. Conservati ve treatment was also initiatedfor all pati ents who had a perforation. Patients on the conservative regimen were admini stered intravenous broadspectrum antibiotics and were not permitt ed to take any food or liquids by mouth; they received their nutrition via either enteral f eeding or total parenteral nutrition. Conservative treatment was successful in all seven patients with a perforation and no abscess and in the one patient with an abscess who refused surgery. Moreover, all four pati ents who unde rwent surgical treatm ent recovered. Our expe rience demonstrates that esophageal perforation related to an ingested fore ign body can be safely treated by conservative means if the diagnosis is made before signifi cant contamination occurs. Conversely, abscesses (cervical or mediastinal) related to an ingested foreign body should be explored and surgically drained.