Sunil Sharma
Sunil has been a Consultant Paediatric ENT Surgeon at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital since 2018, having trained in London, and undertook a clinical fellowship in paediatric otology and implantation in Toronto. His clinical interests include endoscopic ear and implantation surgery, microtia and craniofacial surgery. He is Training Programme Director for ENT, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Regional Clinical Director for ENT and Audiology, Chief Investigator for an NIHR HTA trial. He has over 80 publications, and is a NICE guidelines committee member. He is also Section Editor for the Ear in Scott Brown’s Otorhinolaryngology textbook. Outside of work, he supports Liverpool Football Club and he has a keen interest in expedition medicine, long distance running and flying.
Session
This session is designed to equip the attendee with a broad understanding of the principles of using navigation systems for both anterior and lateral skull base surgery in children. There is very little experience globally in the use of navigation for paediatric anterior skull base surgery and none in paediatric lateral skull base surgery therefore this will be a novel session for attendees to learn about the benefits and limitations of this technology, as well as hints and common pitfalls in it’s use in children. The session will consist of presentations by a leading paediatric anterior skull base surgeon and leading paediatric lateral skull base surgeon with extensive experience of navigation systems in this population group. There will then be a panel discussion and an opportunity for attendees to gain practical experience with the navigation system.
The objectives are:
Understanding of the indications of use of the navigation system in paediatric anterior and lateral skull base surgery.
Understanding of how to set up the navigation system in the paediatric population for both anterior and lateral skull base surgery.
Appreciation of tips in using this technology in the paediatric population and common pitfalls.
Potential future uses of this technology.
The session presenters will be Ms Grace Khong (consultant in paediatric rhinology and anterior skull base surgery) and Mr Sunil Sharma (consultant in paediatric otology and lateral skull base surgery). The key references demonstrating the presenters’ experience in this topic are:
Davies T, Zammit M, Todd H, Sharma R, Khong G. Elective paediatric functional endoscopic sinus surgery: a tertiary centre experience. J Laryngol Otol. 2025 Aug 1:1-5. doi: 10.1017/S0022215125102922. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40746304.
Milinis K, Thompson N, Atsmoni SC, Sharma SD. Sinogenic Intracranial Suppuration in Children: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Aug;167(2):215-223. doi: 10.1177/01945998211043847. Epub 2021 Sep 7. PMID: 34491863.
Salem J, Bakundukize J, Milinis K, Sharma SD. Mastoid obliteration versus canal wall down or canal wall up mastoidectomy for cholesteatoma: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Otolaryngol. 2023 Mar-Apr;44(2):103751. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2022.103751. Epub 2022 Dec 27. PMID: 36586321.
Sharma SD, Kumar G, Bal J, Eweiss A. Endoscopic repair of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea. Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis. 2016 Jun;133(3):187-90. doi: 10.1016/j.anorl.2015.05.010. Epub 2016 Jan 6. PMID: 26776882.
Milinis K, Thiagarajan J, Leong S, De S, Sinha A, Sharma R, Sharma S. Review of management practices of sinogenic intracranial abscesses in children. J Laryngol Otol. 2023 Oct;137(10):1135-1140. doi: 10.1017/S0022215123000166. Epub 2023 Feb 8. PMID: 36751894.