Publication:

Spectrum of otorhinolaryngological disorders among hospitalized adults in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background A retrospective descriptive study was made to find out the disease pattern, regional mobility, co-morbid details and malignancies related to otorhinolaryngological disorders.

Methods Consecutive patients admitted to male and female wards over a period of 24 months commencing from May 2016 to April 2018 to a rural teaching hospital formed the materials. Their socio-demographic details, nature of illnesses, clinical course, final diagnosis and interventions made were collected from the case records and analyzed.

Results During the study period 1740 cases were admitted; 854 (49.4) males and 886 (50.9%) females. Among them 642 (34.9%) suffered from otological disorders, and the rest had, rhinological related (607; 34.9%), laryngeal related (321; 18.4%) and other illnesses (170; 9.8%). The region wise data were also analyzed and recorded. Among the malignancies, oropharyngeal dominated followed by laryngopharyngeal and laryngeal. Among the in-patients studied, ear diseases were more common and these were followed by nose and throat diseases.

Conclusions It is suggested to train primary care doctors and other health care workers on common ENT disorders to provide attention and care for emergency cases and refer the deserving cases in time to higher centres for appropriate care and management.