Otorhinolaryngology or ENT (ear, nose and throat) diseases is a medical field specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with symptoms, diseases or injuries in the ears, nose, paranasal sinuses, mouth, pharynx, larynx or neck.
Malignant tumours of the head and neck region, benign tumours in the parotid gland, severe middle-ear infections and troublesome nosebleeds are typical conditions requiring hospitalisation. Some pharyngeal and laryngeal infections may also require short-term hospitalisation.
Conditions such as hearing loss, maxillary sinusitis, chronic rhinitis and middle ear cholesteatoma are treated at outpatient clinics.
The most common surgical procedures include tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy and the insertion of tympanostomy tubes.
Patient groups requiring the most demanding care
In ENT diseases, tumours in the head and neck area (e.g. cancers), rehabilitation of deafness and inflammatory processes in the skull base are conditions requiring demanding specialist medical care.
Emergency care
Nosebleeds, peritonsillar abscesses and nasal fractures are the most common conditions requiring emergency care.
Typical forms of treatment
The treatment of ENT (ear, nose and throat) diseases is usually provided at outpatient clinics, or requires only short-term hospitalisation. Most operations are performed in day surgery where the patient is admitted to the unit in the morning and discharged later the same day.
ENT services in the HUS-area
Hospitals offering ear, nose and throat treatment include
- the HUH Ear, Nose and Throat at the Surgery Hospital
- the Children's Hospital and
- the Töölö Hospital's Cleft Lip and Palate Unit.
Within the Uusimaa region, services are also provided at Länsi-Uusimaa, Hyvinkää, Lohja and Porvoo hospitals.
In the HUS area, patient groups requiring the most demanding care are treated at the Surgery Hospital. In addition to physicians and nurses, the hospital's interdisciplinary teams include audiometricians, speech therapists, psychologists, social workers, physiotherapists and rehabilitation supervisors.