[Acute infectious disease of otolaryngology focus]. / Patología infecciosa aguda de foco otorrinolaringológico.

Infections are the most common cause of antibiotic prescription and one of the most frequent reasons for consultation in Primary Care. Among them, stand out acute media otitis and diffuse external otitis, acute pharyngitis and acute rhinosinusitis. Commonly they are viral and self-limited, so their complications are rare. Currently, the indiscriminate use of antibiotics have leaded to bacterial resistances; therefore antibiotic prescription should be more careful. Nowadays, several diagnostic strategies are available. In current updated etiological and pathophysiological factors of each infection, diagnostic and therapeutic strategy to be applied in Primary Care as well as the complications of each pathology and the referral indications to be assessed by specialists in the ENT area, will be reviewed.

[The effect of AM3 in the resolution of otitis media with effusion (OME) in paediatric patients]. / Efecto de AM3 sobre la resolución de la otitis media serosa (OMS) en pacientes pediátricos.

OBJECTIVE: Otitis media with effusion (OME) is one of the most frequent diseases and the main cause of hearing loss in childhood. The medical treatment for OME includes antibiotics, antihistamine-decongestant combinations, steroids and Eustachian-tube autoinflation as the Valsalva manoeuvre. METHODS: A total of 62 children aged 2 to 8 years with a diagnosis of OME were enrolled in a prospective study to assess the resolution of OME. Patients were given antibiotics treatment with or without associated AM3. RESULTS: After 2 months of treatment, the rate of complete resolution of OME was greater in AM3 treated group than in the non-AM3 treated group (57.6% vs 27.6%) with a statistically significant difference (p<0.017). CONCLUSIONS: These results show that AM3 treatment has a beneficial effect on OME resolution when it is associated to antibiotic treatment.

[Major outpatient surgery in the ear, nose and throat clinic]. / Cirugía mayor ambulatoria en otorrinolaringología.

In recent years, outpatient surgery in otolaryngology has advanced because it benefits both patients and health-care systems. We analyzed the surgical procedures that can be performed in outpatient surgery programs, evaluating patient selection, release criteria, and potential complications. A one-year retrospective study was made of 456 patients, of which 369 (80.92%) were discharged from the hospital on the same day as surgery. The operations with the best performance in outpatient surgery were adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy, laryngeal microsurgery, and septoplasty. Most surgical procedures in otolaryngology can be performed without hospitalization. Outpatient surgery is easier for patients and increases their sense of safety. It also has an excellent cost-benefit relation for health-care systems.

[Physiological variations of auditory brain-stem evoked potentials]. / Variaciones fisiológicas de los potenciales evocados auditivos del tronco cerebral.

From the beginning brainstem evoked response audiometry (BERA) has become a technique more and more useful in the daily clinic. In order to know the influence that over BERA have the stimulation parameters, record and individuals variables of each patient, we have developed a study over 50 healthy persons of both sex, with standard technical conditions of the studied different parameters. We agree with other authors in the mean latency values and waves amplitudes, except from the polarity in which our findings are different from those of the literature.