Trends and implications of ENT cases in emergency medicine: insights from a tertiary hospital study

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiologic data of patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital with complaints of ear, nose and throat diseases. Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively by screening patients who presented to the emergency department with complaints of ear, nose and throat diseases between 01.04.2015 and 01.10.2015. Age, gender, presence of a diagnosed ear, nose and throat disease, mode of presentation (referral/primary presentation), diagnosis in the emergency department, consultation status, forensic case status, examination status, and discharge status were analyzed. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage distribution) were used for statistical analysis. Results were presented as mean ± SD or frequency (percentage). Results: The study included 2425 patients. 51.5% of the patients were female. The mean age was 35.27±15.6 years (0-88). The highest number of patient admissions was in the 21-30 age range (38.4%). 98.1% of the patients presented to the emergency department as outpatients. It was observed that 2.4% of the applicants had a known previous ear, nose and throat disease. Computed tomography was the most requested test. The most common diagnoses were acute tonsillopharyngitis (60.1%) and vertigo (25.1%). 3.5% of the patients were evaluated as forensic cases. 4.5% of the patients were consulted to the ear, nose and throat clinic and 3.6% to the plastic and reconstructive surgery clinic. The discharge rate was 97.5%. Conclusion: In conclusion, it was seen that the number of outpatient admissions to the emergency department (98.1%) was quite high, 95.5% of the patients were not consulted by the ear, nose and throat clinic and 97% were discharged with an outpatient prescription.