Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine.

Our study suggests much of the laryngeal cancer information available online is of suboptimal quality and written at a level too difficult for the average adult to read comfortably.

IMPORTANCE Chronic rhinosinusitis is among the most common and costly conditions treated by physicians. After failure of medical treatment, surgical intervention in the form of endoscopic sinus surgery is traditionally offered. Balloon catheter dilation (BCD) has become a less-invasive alternative with increasing popularity among otolaryngologists.OBJECTIVE To evaluate the most recent BCD data in the Medicare population, with a specific focus on the percentage of procedures performed by surgeons who perform high volumes of this procedure, their reimbursements, and their national geographic distributions. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective review included data from 2011 through 2017 from Medicare Part B National Summary Data Files and Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data. Patients with procedures including Current Procedural Terminology codes 31295 (maxillary sinus dilation), 31296 (frontal sinus dilation), and 31297 (sphenoid sinus dilation) were included. EXPOSURES Balloon catheter dilation of the paranasal sinuses.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Total and mean reimbursements over time to physicians for BCDs, as well as the percentage of BCDs performed by and reimbursed to ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons who perform high volumes of BCDs (>10 procedures) in a given year.

BackgroundThere is currently conflicting evidence surrounding the effects of obesity on postoperative outcomes. Previous studies have found obesity to be associated with adverse events, but others have found no association. The aim of this study was to determine whether increasing body mass index (BMI) is an independent risk factor for development of major postoperative complications.MethodsThis was a multicentre prospective cohort study across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal surgery over a 4‐month interval (October–December 2014) were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome was the 30‐day major complication rate (Clavien–Dindo grade III–V). BMI was grouped according to the World Health Organization classification. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to adjust for patient, operative and hospital‐level effects, creating odds ratios (ORs) and 95 per cent confidence intervals (c.i.).ResultsOf 7965 patients, 2545 (32·0 per cent) were of normal weight, 2673 (33·6 per cent) were overweight and 2747 (34·5 per cent) were obese. Overall, 4925 (61·8 per cent) underwent elective and 3038 (38·1 per cent) emergency operations. The 30‐day major complication rate was 11·4 per cent (908 of 7965). In adjusted models, a significant interaction was found between BMI and diagnosis, with an association seen between BMI and major complications for patients with malignancy (overweight: OR 1·59, 95 per cent c.i. 1·12 to 2·29, P = 0·008; obese: OR 1·91, 1·31 to 2·83, P = 0·002; compared with normal weight) but not benign disease (overweight: OR 0·89, 0·71 to 1·12, P = 0·329; obese: OR 0·84, 0·66 to 1·06, P = 0·147).ConclusionOverweight and obese patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal malignancy are at increased risk of major postoperative complications compared with those of normal weight.

Diagnostic flexible laryngoscopy (DFL) is a critical tool in the armamentarium of an otolaryngologist. However, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, DFL represents a high-risk procedure for patients and otolaryngologists due to the risk of aerosolization. In cases where DFL is required, in patients with COVID-19 positivity or unknown COVID-19 status, we describe the use of a modified endoscopy face mask as an adjunct to personal protection equipment to reduce occupational transmission of COVID-19 while performing DFL. Our modified endoscopy mask provides an additional barrier against the transmission of airborne pathogens. The modified endoscopy face mask may also serve as a useful tool for otolaryngologists as they return to performing more aerosol-generating procedures in the outpatient setting.