most common otolaryngology, head and neck diseases at King Abdul-Aziz university hospital emergency department [tertiary hospital]

Objective: To know the most common ENT diseases which were presented to King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, ENT emergency department in the year 2012, and the most common presentation in each ENT subspecialty and to evaluate the triage time

Design: Retrospective study

Subjects: A total of 1937 patients who presented to the emergency department

Setting: ENT Emergency Department, King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Interventions: Information taken from emergency department database records

Main outcome measures: We considered the following parameters: age, nationality, gender, shift time, triage time, diagnosis and final plan

Results: Of the 1937 patients who presented to the emergency department, 92.6% of them were Saudis. Around 77.8% of the patients were seen in less than 30 minutes, while 16.4% were seen in 30 - 60 min. The most common diseases presented to the emergency department were nasal trauma and epistaxis [11.2% and 10.3%, respectively]. The subspecialty presentation were as follows: otology [38%], rhinology [35.7%], pharyngolaryngology [9.6%], and head and neck [6.1%]

Conclusions: The most common otolaryngology, head, and neck diseases presented to ENT emergency department was nasal trauma. Otology represents the most common subspecialty and most of the patients were seen in less than 30 minutes

Evaluation of the effect of Bupivacaine [Marcaine] in reducing early post tonsillectomy pain

To evaluate the effectiveness of bupivacaine as topically applied in reducing post tonsillectomy pain within the first 24 hours. This prospective, randomized, placebocontrolled, intra-individual, single-blind study was conducted at the Otolaryngology Department, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 2009 until March 2010. Thirty-five patients underwent cold knife tonsillectomy. One tonsillar fossa was packed with gauze soaked in plain 0.25% bupivacaine, while the other tonsillar fossa was packed with gauze soaked in normal saline [the control side]. Both gauzes were applied for 5 minutes. The patients' pain was evaluated on each side using the visual analog scale at 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours post-operatively. The reduction in pain at 2 and 4 hours was statistically insignificant compared with the control side. However, at 6, 12, and 24 hours post operatively, the reduction of pain was statistically significant. Topical application of bupivacaine at a 0.25% concentration appears to a considerable degree of analgesia within the first 24 hours post tonsillectomy