Spotlight on Otolaryngology
What is Otolaryngology?
The branch of medicine that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders. Practitioners of this specialty are called Otolaryngologists, or more commonly, Ear, Nose and Throat—or ENT—specialists.
Otolaryngology at Children’s Hospital
ENT Clinic is a very busy area at Children’s
- over 4000 children are seen each year. That’s over 300 kids a month!
- 75% of the children seen are clinical cases, 25% are surgical cases
- encompasses a wide range of medical issues, from sinus surgery, ear
The word "oto-rhino-laryngology” (oh/toe/lair/in/goll/oh/jee) comes from the Greek words – "oto" for ear, "rhino" for nose and "laryn" for throat.
What Does an Otolaryngologist Do?Paediatric Otolaryngologists treat children with a wide range of medical issues, such as:
• Sinusitis
• Ear infections
• Hearing loss
• Dizziness
• Cleft lip and palate
• Airway problems
• Allergies
• Foreign body obstructions
• Tumourssurgery, nose surgery, airway surgery, head and neck surgery
- most common cases are obstructed sleep apnea, often related to tonsils and adenoids, and ear infections and fluid in the ear
Velopharyngeal Insufficiency Clinic (VPI) (in collaboration with the Thames Valley Children’s Centre)
- deals with speech disorders often associated with cleft palate.
- clinic sees 100 kids a year
- an average of 16 surgeries are performed per year
- one of the largest velopharyngeal insufficiency clinics in Canada
- significant research into palate issues is taking place at Children’s
- Cleft palate causes speech disorders, which may result in communication and language development issues and social difficulties for children
Interview with Dr. Murad Husein
Why are children prone to ear infections?
A child has the potential for many ear infections and fluid in the ear up to 4 or 5 years of age. They are more predisposed to ear problems primarily for two reasons.
Anatomically, the Eustachian tube in a child this age is smaller and at a lesser angle, which allows fluid to collect and cause problems.
Environmentally, children in daycare with 6 or 8 other kids for more than 6 hour a week are more likely to develop ear infections.
Daycare and an age less than 2 are risk factors for resistant bacteria, making treatment more difficult, as this is the age that they typically are in day care.
Smoking is also a risk factor.
Breast feeding or the lack there of is a risk factor. Usually a child who is breast fed for at least 6 months will be protected against bacteria.
When do tonsils need to be removed?
Tonsil removal is now based more on whether there is an obstruction versus whether there is an infection. Antibiotics are more advanced to deal with those infections, whereas during the 50s and 60s it was common to remove tonsils for infections.
Tell us what you like about ENT
It’s a very diverse field. I see a wide variety of things yet I still have my area of sub-specialty, which is airway disorders and the VPI clinic.
I enjoy working with children and making them better. Having kids of my own helps me to keep the parent perspective in the interaction with my patients.
Kids are challenging as they are constantly going through stages of change and growth. Because of those stages of development and growth, you can’t wait on things, delay treatment. If you don’t manage that issue you could cost them years in development.
An example – an ear problem that isn’t handled properly and in a timely way can affect the child’s continual growth and cognitive understanding. This affects learning and could eventually have a social impact on the patient as a child and as an adult.
345 Westminster Avenue, London, Ontario, Canada N6C 4V3Phone: (519) 432-8564 | Fax: (519) 432-5907
info@childhealth.ca