Background Coronavirus disease 2019 personal protective equipment has been reported to affect communication in healthcare settings. This study sought to identify those challenges experimentally. Method Bamford–Kowal–Bench speech discrimination in noise performance of healthcare workers was tested under simulated background noise conditions from a variety of hospital environments. Candidates were assessed for ability to interpret speech with and without personal protective equipment, with both normal speech and raised voice. Results There was a significant difference in speech discrimination scores between normal and personal protective equipment wearing subjects in operating theatre simulated background noise levels (70 dB). Conclusion Wearing personal protective equipment can impact communication in healthcare environments. Efforts should be made to remind staff about this burden and to seek alternative communication paradigms, particularly in operating theatre environments.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019(Covid-19) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been reported to effect communication in healthcare settings. We sought to identify those challenges experimentally. Method Bamford-Kowal-Bench speech discrimination in noise performance of healthcare workers was tested under simulated background noise conditions from a variety of hospital environments. Candidates were assessed for speech intelligibility with and without PPE both at normal speech and raised voice. Results There was a significant difference in speech discrimination scores between normal and PPE wearing subjects in theatre simulated background noise levels (70dB). Conclusion PPE wearing can impact communication and efforts should be made to remind staff about this burden and seek alternative communication paradigms, particularly in theatre environments.

Background: Vocal cord palsy is one of the recognised complications of complex cardiac surgery in the paediatric population. While there is an abundance of literature highlighting the presence of this complication, there is a scarcity of research focusing on the pathophysiology, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment options available for children affected by vocal cord palsy. Materials and methods: Electronic searches were conducted using the search terms: “Vocal Cord Palsy,” “VCP,” “Vocal Cord Injury,” “Paediatric Heart Surgery,” “Congenital Heart Surgery,” “Pediatric Heart Surgery,” “Vocal Fold Movement Impairment,” “VFMI,” “Vocal Fold Palsy,” “PDA Ligation.” The inclusion criteria were any articles discussing the outcomes of vocal cord palsy following paediatric cardiac surgery. Results: The two main populations affected by vocal cord palsy are children undergoing aortic arch surgery or those undergoing PDA ligation. There is paucity of prospective follow-up studies; it is therefore difficult to reliably assess the current approaches and the long-term implications of management options. Conclusion: Vocal cord palsy can be a devastating complication following cardiac surgery, which if left untreated, could potentially result in debilitation of quality of life and in severe circumstances could even lead to death. Currently, there is not enough high-quality evidence in the literature to aid recognition, diagnosis, and management leaving clinicians to extrapolate evidence from adult studies to make clinical judgements. Future research with a focus on the paediatric perspective is necessary in providing evidence for good standards of care.