Common ORL Surgical Emergencies in Sudanese Children

Abstract

Background: Health problems related to children particularly emergencies are always of great concern to the public, health care providers and the authorities. Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) emergencies in children age group are of specific concern for many reasons. They are potentially life threatening conditions. Thus, paediatricians should be aware of them for early diagnosis and proper management or referral to ORL service
Objective: To obtain baseline data on the most common  Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) surgical emergencies in Sudanese children in Gezira State, Sudan.
Methods: This is a retrospective analytic hospital based study of all  children who presented with ORL surgical emergencies at the department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), Wad-Medani Teaching Hospital, Gezira State, Sudan, during the period from 1st. of January 2009 to 31st. of
December 2010.
Results: The total number of children who presented to the ENT  department was (31%) of the total frequency of all patients. The total number of children admissions was (54.6%) of all patients’ admissions. Emergency Surgical intervention indicated for children constituted (63.9%) of all emergency operations. Most cases (66%) occurred between the ages of six weeks to 5 years, with a male to female ratio of 1.15:1.0. Foreign body impaction emergencies were the most common presentation (83%) requiring surgical intervention. The sites of impaction were; the bronchus (31.45 %), the pharynx and oesophagus (22.77%), the ear (20.46%) and nose (7.26%).
Conclusions: Children have always constituted a significant proportion of patients attending the general otolaryngology service. Upper  aero-digestive tract foreign bodies are the most common indication for urgent surgical intervention. These emergencies are potentially   life-threatening procedures with a high running cost and requiring very skilful staff and appropriate equipments. Public health education is essential in order to prevent these avoidable accidents.

Keywords: Otorhinolaryngology (ORL), Foreign body (FB).