Common ORL Surgical Emergencies in Sudanese Children

Abstract

Background: Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) emergencies in children age group are of specific concern because they may become life threatening conditions
Objective: To obtain baseline data on the most common Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) surgical emergencies in Sudanese children in Gezira State, Sudan.
Methods: This is a retrospectiveanalytic 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 5568(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 five 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.

Key words: Otorhinolaryngology (ORL), Surgical, Emergency, Children, Foreign body (FB).