Background and Objectives: This study investigates the role of manuka honey in the healing of postoperative mastoid cavity.Subjects and Method This was a single centre prospective study on 40 consecutive patients of chronic otitis media undergoing canal wall down mastoidectomy. Manuka honey soaked in gel foam was kept in the mastoid cavity for the study group and antibiotic soaked gel foam was kept for the control group. Culture swabs from mastoid granulations were sent at various times from both groups. The healing of the mastoid cavity was assessed in the follow up period. Results: Preoperatively 15 out of 20 patients (75%) had a positive aural swab culture in the study group while 11 out of 20 (55%) in the control group had a positive aural swab culture. The most common organism isolated was Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis. One month after mastoidectomy only 4 patients (20%) had sterile culture and 16 patients (80%) had grown organisms; in the control group, 7 patients (35%) had sterile culture and 13 patients (65%) had growth on culture. The mean merchant scores for the study group and the control were 2.61 (2-5) and 2.05 (1-4), respectively. At 3 months 13 patients (65%) with sterile culture and 7 patients (35%) had growth on culture; in the control group, 16 patients (80%) had sterile culture and 4 had shown persistent growth on culture (p=0.28). All positive cultures were aerobic in both groups. The mean merchant scores for the study group and the control were 1.03 (0-4) and 0.7 (0-3), respectively (p=0.09). Conclusion Healing of mastoid cavity was almost similar in both groups (p>0.05). Manuka honey exhibited antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas, Proteus, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus.

Background: The most frequent complication of nasotracheal intubation (NTI) is epistaxis. Epinephrine nasal gauze packing has been used conventionally as a pre-treatment for reducing epistaxis, but it carries a disadvantage of pain and anxiety in patients. However, xylometazoline drops are easier to administer and more convenient for patients. We aimed at comparing the effectiveness of xylometazoline drops and epinephrine merocele packing in reducing bleeding and postoperative complications in our population. Methods: Our study enrolled 120 patients in a double-blind randomized controlled trial. We randomly allocated ASA1 or 2 adult patients into 2 groups: Group X and Group E. Group X received 0.1% xylometazoline nasal drops, and epinephrine (1:10,000) merocele nasal packing was used in Group E. The primary outcome was the incidence of bleeding during NTI; the severity of bleeding, navigability, bleeding during extubation, and postoperative complications were secondary outcomes. We used IBM SPSS and Minitab software for statistical analysis, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: We analyzed the data of 110 patients: 55 in Group X and 55 in Group E. The two groups did not have different bleeding incidence (56.4% vs 60.0%; P = 0.70); however, the incidence of severe bleeding was less with xylometazoline than with epinephrine (3.63% vs 14.54%; P < 0.05). We also observed less bleeding during extubation (38.2% vs 68.5%; P < 0.05) with xylometazoline. Other secondary outcomes were akin to both groups. Conclusion The incidence of severe and post-extubation bleeding was significantly less with xylometazoline.Hence, it may be an effective alternative for reducing the incidence and severity of epistaxis during NTI.

Chondrosarcoma is a cartilaginous tumor of mesenchymal origin. The histology and grade of the tumor determine the chances of relapse and survival. These tumors usually respond poorly to chemo-radiotherapy in cases of non-resectable and recurrent disease. 18F-FDG PET/CT has been used in evaluation of recurrence. However, these tumors show only mild to moderate FDG avidity due to their lower mitotic activity and large acellular matrix. These tumors are known to have a high degree of angiogenesis, especially in those of higher grade. We present a case of a 53-year-old man with grade II chondrosarcoma of the left femur showing only mild avidity on 18F-FDG PET/CT but showing moderate to intense tracer avidity on 68Ga-DOTA-RGD2PET/CT. This may enable the use of angiogenesis-targeted positron and beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals as a potentially new theranostic alternative treatment in cases of refractory metastatic chondrosarcoma.