OBJECTIVE: To know those pathologies that require more frequently urgent medical assistance and what percentage of them could have been treated in health centers or outpatient clinics of our speciality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study of 30,000 patients attended in the Emergency department by our on call ENT specialist between 1993 and 2002. RESULTS: In general, epistaxis (12.98%), nasal traumas (10.26%) and external otitis (6.92%) were the clinical entities more common, representing the nasal and otological pathology more than 63% of the assisted emergencies. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate and emphasize an increment in the recent demand from patients of the emergency department. Several final considerations at that respect are pointed.
OBJECTIVE: To know those pathologies that require more frequently urgent medical assistance and what percentage of them could have been treated in health centers or outpatient clinics of our speciality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study of 30,000 patients attended in the Emergency department by our on call ENT specialist between 1993 and 2002. RESULTS: In general, epistaxis (12.98%), nasal traumas (10.26%) and external otitis (6.92%) were the clinical entities more common, representing the nasal and otological pathology more than 63% of the assisted emergencies. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate and emphasize an increment in the recent demand from patients of the emergency department. Several final considerations at that respect are pointed.