Introduction Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) practice. 1 Over the last few years, different techniques for performing tonsillectomy have been proposed as attempts to lower the inherent morbidity of this surgery. 2 These techniques include blunt cold steel dissection, guillotine excision, monopolar diathermy, bipolar diathermy, laser dissection, bipolar scissor dissection and recently coblation tonsillectomy. 3 Any new tonsillectomy procedure needs to be comparable, or even better than present technique in terms of morbidity, mortality, safety of use, short learning curve, and cost-effectiveness. It should also be associated with less postoperative pain and intraoperative blood loss, and result in a more rapid return to normal diet and activity and carry a lower risk of both reactive and secondary hemorrhage. 4 There is still controversy over which is the optimal technique of tonsillectomy with the lowest morbidity rates. 5 In contrast to the majority of operative procedures associated with primary wound closure, Background and objective: Tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy is an operation done frequently in all otolaryngology departments all over the world. Many new surgical techniques found over the last few decades to decrease the morbidity of this surgery. This study aimed to compare intraoperative efficiency and postoperative recovery between coblation and bipolar electrocautery tonsillectomy. Methods: This prospective study was carried out on 60 patients that underwent tonsillectomy over six months from 1(st) August 2014 to 31(st) January 2015 in Rizgary Teaching Hospital, Erbil city. They patients equally divided into two groups; coblation tonsillectomy (30 patients) and bipolar electrocautery tonsillectomy (30 patients). Their age ranged between 2.5-12 years. The operative time and intraoperative blood loss were recorded for each patient and compared. The parents were given a pain diary to record the level of pain each morning for ten days. Also, they were asked to report any complication like bleeding. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the mean operation time between the coblation group and bipolar electrocautery group (6.89 min vs. 7.83 min, P = 0.11). The mean intraoperative blood loss was statistically lower for the bipolar electrocautery group versus the coblation group (1.43 ml vs. 15.37 ml, P <0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in the daily pain scores between the two groups in which the coblation group was associated with lower mean pain score. No episodes of primary or secondary hemorrhage were recorded. Conclusion: Bipolar electrocautery tonsillectomy offers the same operative speed, less intraoperative blood loss, more postoperative pain scores when compared with coblation tonsillectomy.

Background and objective: Otosclerosis is a primary disease of the temporal bone that leads to stapes fixation. Hearing loss and tinnitus are the main symptoms. Treatment includes surgery, medical treatment, and sound amplification therapy alone or in combination. This study aimed to evaluate the functional outcomes of patients with clinical diagnosis of otosclerosis undergoing primary stapes surgery in Erbil city. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study. A total of 32 patients with clinical otosclerosis underwent unilateral stapedotomy in the specialized center between September 2011 and September 2013. These included 20 females and 12 males, aged 21 to 48 years, their mean age (±SD) was 31.9 (±10.91) years. Results:The average preoperative and postoperative air conduction threshold was 51.13 and 23.91 dB, respectively. The mean preoperative and postoperative bone conduction threshold was 21.53 and 16.21dB, respectively. The average preoperative and postoperative air-bone gap was 29.03 and 8.51 dB, respectively. All 32 ears (100%) had a residual air-bone gap <10 dB. Conclusion: Stapes surgery showed significant functional hearing outcomes in this study. The very significant reduction in the air-bone gap is a good indicator of the success of the surgery.

Background and objectives: Hypocalcemia is a common complication in patients after total thyroidectomy. This study was undertaken to identify risk factors for post thyroidectomy hypocalcemia. To evaluate the risk factors of post total thyroidectomy hypocalcemia, in order to enable early management, avoid complications, and treat accordingly. Method: A longitudinal study was performed from January 2019 to February 2022. All cases of total Thyroidectomy were included which totaled 27. Ionized serum calcium with Parathyroid Hormone, serum, magnesium, serum phosphate and vitamin D were all measured for every patient preoperatively then postoperatively once, and serum calcium was measured every eight hours for the first 48 hours. Results: Our results showed an overall significant difference in the readings of calcium at different times, the mean of pre-operative reading of serum calcium was (9.6 mg/dl), which was greater than the mean of calcium measured 24 hours post-operative that was (8.72 mg/dl) with (p < 0.001), and the incidence of hypocalcemia was 51.9% of hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy. Parathyroid Hormone level was the only risk factor for developing post total thyroidectomy hypocalcemia (p < 0.001), other risk factors were none of them significant.

Background: In December of 2019, a new form of coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan,China. Signs and symptoms of it include tiredness, cough, and fever . Another common symptom of this respiratory disease is the loss of smell. Objective: To find the  frequency of anosmia in COVID-19 patients in our community in relation to other communities and to determine the clinical outcome of patients affected by COVID-19. Patients and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study at Kurdistan Iraq conducted during the period from January 2021-January 2022 .The 460 cases were admitted to quarantine centers 320 were positive for COVID 19 .The sample size is (260) cases of smell affection with proven COVID-19 disease. Results: The percentage of smell affection patients were 81% of the sample size, they were as follows, the percentage of bad odor smell was 9%, alteration of smell was 21% , partial loss of smell was 24% and complete loss of smell was 27%. The female percentage of all patients were 55 % while male percentage was 45% . Conclusion: Olfactory dysfunction is one of cardinal symptoms of COVID 19 disease.Females are slightly more affected than males with olfactory dysfunction. 4 th and 5th decades patients are more affected with bad odor and alteration of smell while. partial loss and complete loss of smell happened within 6 th decade patient mostly.

Background and objectives: Tonsillectomy is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures. Up to date there are no guidelines for pain control following tonsillectomy. The aim was to determine whether oral spray flurbipro- fen reduces pain and has an influence on wound healing following tonsillectomy. Methods: A Prospective, randomized study was done in Rizgary Teaching Hospital (Erbil-Iraq). This study was conducted on 60 patients who underwent ton- sillectomy between July 2017 and July 2018. Patients were randomly chosen and they were divided into two groups (thirty patients included in test group received flurbiprofen spray, other thirty included in control group). For test group oral spray flurbiprofen was used 3 times a day, every time three puffs. Postoperative pain was evaluated on the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th postoperative days. The Efficacy was evaluated by universal pain assessment tool. Wound healing was evaluated on the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th postoperative days. Results: The flurbiprofen group include 30 patients (18 males, 12 females) with a mean age of 23 years (range 12-40 years); the control group consisted of 30 patients (16 males, 14 females) with a mean age of 22 years (range12- 40 years). The severity of throat pain was lower in the flurbiprofen group when compared with the control group, and this difference was statistically highly significant for the 4th and the 7th day. Wound healing was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: The use of flurbiprofen oral spray decreases postoperative tonsillectomy pain.