What does an ENT do and when to visit?

Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (ENT) is one of the most complex medical-surgical specialties due to the unique anatomy involved and the variety of pathologies treated.

It is a specialty that encompasses affections of the, fromupper respiratory tract (nose, sinuses) and part of thelower (pharynx, larynx and trachea). The pathology of the thyroid gland, salivary glands, skull base, traumatic, oncological, plastic and reconstructive of the facial and cervical areas is also included.

The patient visited by the ENT specialist can be pediatric or adult, and the specialty includes general pathology and related complications.

Consultations at the ENT

 Some of the most frequently consulted diseases are:

• The .
• Hearing loss
• The pathology of balance.
• Méniére's disease.
• Chronic ear pathology.
• Epistaxis
• .
• Sinusitis
• Adenoid hypertrophy.
• Tonsillitis
• .
• Voice-related pathology.
• Oncological pathology of the head and neck.

The ENT can carry out a large number of examinations in the consultation, such as otoscopy, fibroendoscopy, impedance, audiological study, tests aimed at the study of balance, stroboscopy (voice pathology) and olfactometry .

Surgeries performed by the ENT

The most frequently performed surgeries include:

• Nasal septum surgery, turbinoplasty.
• Sinus surgery.
• Placement of transtympanic drains.
• Tympanoplasty
• Adenoid surgery.
• Tonsillectomy.
• Endolaryngeal microsurgery (pathology of the larynx).
• Cervical pathology surgery.

Pediatric ENT and otoneurology

Pediatric ENT has a special mention, which is a subspecialty of ENT and treats ear pathology and its complications more frequently, the study of hearing loss and its treatment, as well as the pathology that it involves infantile airway.

Otoneurology is a subspecialty of ENT that seeks to diagnose and treat those pathologies acute or chronic related to balance disturbances. The most commonly treated pathology is benign peripheral vertigo, followed by chronic alterations of the vestibular system and inner ear pathology.

Your role in the pandemic

During the pandemic, performing tracheostomies in hospitalized patients secondary to complications of the has been the most frequent surgical procedure. In this case, it seeks adequate mechanical ventilation in those patients who must stay longer than expected in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and until their referral to the admission ward.

Also during the pandemic, consultations for the as part of the covid-19 pathology have increased and the ENT is the specialist who diagnoses said pathology, studies the evolution and assesses the therapeutic option.

The study of the dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, which some patients present after admission to the ICU, also involves the participation of the ENT and its objective is to diagnose and guide rehabilitation, as well as to minimize sequelae.

When to see the ENT specialist

These are the urgent symptoms that should be as soon as possible:

• Earache / s that does not improve with the treatment proposed by the Health Center or with associated alarm symptoms (*).
• Sudden or rapidly progressive hearing loss within a few days with or without tinnitus or other associated symptoms.
• Suspicion of a foreign body located in the ENT area (ear, nose, throat).
• Cephalic instability or a feeling of dizziness with sudden onset or developed during the last days that does not improve or is associated with alarm symptoms (*).
• Nosebleeds that are not self-limiting or have recurred in the past month.
• Sore throat that does not improve with the treatment proposed by the Health Center with or without alarm symptoms (*).
• Dysphonia and voice alterations that do not improve with the proposed treatment, or after two weeks or are associated with alarm symptoms (*).
• Lumpy feeling in the neck, with or without pain on palpation.
• Nasal contusion with suspected fracture or derived complication.
• Sensation of shortness of breath and / or shortness of breath (dyspnea) of acute-subacute evolution and suggesting an upper airway cause.

(*) Alarm symptoms: fever, suppuration, instability, headache, cervical stiffness, vomiting, feeling of numbness in the face or any other part of the body, weight loss, anorexia ...

• • Some of the most frequently consulted diseases are otitis, hearing loss, balance pathology, Méniére's disease, chronic ear disease, epistaxis, rhinitis, sinusitis, adenoid hypertrophy, tonsillitis, laryngitis, voice-related pathology and oncological pathology of the head and neck.
  • During the pandemic, the performance of tracheostomies in hospitalized patients secondary to the complications of covid-19 has been the most frequent surgical procedure.
  • Also during the pandemic, consultations for olfactory alterations as part of the covid-19 pathology have increased and the ENT is the specialist who diagnoses said pathology, studies the evolution and assesses the therapeutic option.

   

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