Common ORL surgical emergencies in Sudanese Children

Abstract EN

-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.