engleski

Emergencies in Otorhinolaryngology

One of the most common problems in everyday medical practice for family physicians and especially primary care pediatricians are diseases of the ear, nose, and throat, and accordingly their emergencies. Emergency conditions are extremely dramatic for both the patient and the physician. Therefore, proper care, calmness, and resourcefulness of the physician treating the patient are of paramount importance. The aim of this textbook is to familiarize future young physicians with basic symptomatology and the most common and most severe emergencies in otorhinolaryngology (ENT). It is important that the physician evaluates the severity of a particular emergency, triages it, and decides whether they can resolve a particular pathology alone or refer the patient to a specialist. Good cooperation between a primary care physician and ENT specialists is sometimes crucial for proper patient care. By level of severity, ENT emergency conditions can be divided into life-threatening suffocations and bleeding and other non-life- threatening conditions that also require immediate evaluation and treatment. According to localization, ENT emergency conditions can be classified into the area of the ear, nose, pharynx, larynx, and neck (and as such, they will be presented in the textbook). A good understanding of anatomy and pathophysiology is the key to a good diagnosis and proper medical treatment in general, as well as in otorhinolaryngology. ENT regions contain vital structures such as the upper respiratory airways and neurovascular structures but also sensory organs (hearing, balance, smell, and taste), whose disruption can cause major handicaps in everyday life. There is also a close relation with surrounding important structures, especially the brain and the eye, which can be rapidly affected by inflammatory processes of this region. A good understanding of basic symptomatology leads to a correct and prompt diagnosis and therapy, which can be crucial for preserving the function of the aforementioned organs and sometimes even saving lives.

otorynolaryngology ; emergency medicine

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