Ear, Nose & Throat Problems
- Over 20% of GP visits, and 50% of pediatric complaints, in South Africa, are as a result of ENT problems.
VERTIGO/DIZZINESS PROBLEMS
The SA National 1-year prevalence of Vertigo (Dizziness) is 50%.
Dizziness accounts for 4% of the presentations in the emergency department
Dizziness accounts for 1% of presentations at primary healthcare settings.
Dizziness occurs as a result of imbalance which can arise from the visual, cerebella, vestibular and joint position sense (proprioceptive) systems.
Assessment of all these systems must be attempted when patients present with dizziness in order to locate where the problem is. - HEARING PROBLEMS
Over 360 million people worldwide suffer from disabling hearing loss and 50% of them are in the low-middle income countries like South Africa. The proportion may be higher because there is generally poor screening in the resource-constrained low-middle income countries.
Over 12 million South Africans have some form of hearing loss.
Over 3.6 millions of these require treatment.
Less than 10% of the 3.6 millions are able to access treatment.Poor screening practices result in late diagnosis of hearing impairment.
The burden of HIV/AIDS & TB are some of the reasons why populations in the low-middle income countries like South Africa develop hearing loss.HEAD AND NECK SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is on the rise in the low-middle income countries owing to increasing life expectancy, HIV, excessive alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking.
HNSCC is the sixth commonest malignancy and eighth commonest cause of cancer-related deaths, globally.
HNSCC has a fatality rate of more than 75% in low-middle income countries like South Africa.
Hearing
- Early screening for hearing difficulties
Advance hearing tests like ABR and BERA, which objectively elicit brain stem potential in response to audiological click stimuli. - Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA), which is a hearing aid device that is surgically implanted on the bone behind the ear to assist people who have hearing loss.
- Cochlea implant, which is a small complex electronic device that bypasses the damaged part of the ear and connect directly to the nerve that is responsible for transmitting nerve impulses to the brain. It is particularly useful for people who have severe hearing loss.
Swallowing & Voice Rehab
- Patients are guided through various clinically proven physical maneuvers to improve or restore their swallowing ability.
- Voice production is a function of mind, vocal cords, breathing and speech muscles. When patients have had stroke, removal of nodules or polyps from the vocal cords, speech maybe affected. People like educators, preachers, politicians, lawyers, and salespeople, may adopt various techniques that may strain the voice and thus affect their occupational output.
- A voice therapist uses various techniques to help them restore their voice and/or help them select the right pitch and volume to preserve their voices.
Vertigo Assessment
- Vestibular Nystagmography (VNG) – A test used to check if one has a problem with the balance system found in the inner ear (vestibular system).
- Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP) – A test that evaluates the function of the parts in the inner ear that are responsible for balance and spatial orientation (Otolithic organs). It is used to diagnose Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS), Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), and Meniere’s disease.
- Video Head Impulse Test (v HIT) – A test that measures the integrity of the connection between the oculomotor muscles and the vestibular systema, also called vestibulo-occular reflex (VOR). vHIT uses high speed cameras to record and measure eye movements during the head impulse test.
Adenotonsillectomy
- All functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS)
- Foreign body removal from the ear, nose or throat
- Lymph Node biopsy in the head and neck region
- Otoplasty – plastic surgery for the protruding ears
Eustachian tube dilatation. - Eustachian tube dilatation
- Myringotomy – drainage of infected middle ear and insertion of grommets
Simple cortical mastoidectomy - Auditory implant surgery (Bone conduction and Cochlea Implant surgery).
- RHINOLOGY
Antrostomy – surgical drainage of maxillary sinuses by creating or enlarging the opening to the sinuses.
Direct Laryngoscopy
- Septoplasty – straightening of the nasal septum.
- Polypectomy – removal of nasal polyps
- Epistaxis – Involves cautery/ ablation/ ligation of the vessel that is causing nose-bleed.
- Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) – done to relieve the flow of tears from the eyes into the nostril.
- Turbinectomy – complete or part removal of turbinate bones to relieve nasal obstruction
- Nasal Fracture Reduction Procedures – Straightening of the broken nose under local or general anesthesia.
- LARYNGOLOGY
Direct laryngoscopy and polypectomy - PEDIATRIC – E.N.T. SURGERY
Pediatric surgery includes removal of foreign bodies, frenectomies, repair of cleft palate and the repair of other head & neck birth defects. - ORAL CAVITY PROCEDURES
Excision of benign mucosal lesions and other oral cavity lesions and abnormalities