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<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Hoarseness is defined as roughness of voice resulting from variations of periodicity or intensity of consecutive sound waves. Hoarseness is a symptom not a disease.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> The present study was carried out in the Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, SMGS Hospital, Jammu over a period of 2 years from March 2016 to February 2018. During this period the patients who presented with hoarseness of voice were evaluated.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Total 100 cases were studied. Average age group was found to be between 15-85 years. The number of female patients were 36 (36%) and male 64 (64%). In the present series the most common lesion was vocal nodule (30%) followed by vocal polyp (23%), squamous cell carcinoma (16%), papilloma (10%), Reinkes oedema (9%), keratosis (7%), vocal cord paralysis (4%) and laryngeal tuberculosis (1%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Hoarseness is a common symptom of laryngeal dysfunction. The micro laryngeal surgery is a minimally invasive procedure used to correct voice disorder or other problems affecting the larynx.</p>

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<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Diseases of the thyroid continue to be a common clinical problem having a prevalence rate of 4 to 7% in the general population.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, SMGS Hospital, Jammu from January 2018 to January 2020. A thorough history taking, meticulous clinical examination, routine hematological and biochemical investigations were done in all the patients. General examination of the patient was done and looked for thyroid functional abnormality followed by local examination was carried out to locate and identify the site of the swelling, shape, size and consistency of the thyroid swelling and clinical diagnosis was made. All thyroid swelling cases were subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The type of thyroidectomy is based on the size and type of thyroid whether neoplastic or non-neoplastic. All the specimens were sent for histopathological examination.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Out of 60 patients in the study, 56 were females and only 4 were males. The most common age group was 31 to 40 years seen in 24 (40%) patients. The most common presenting symptom was swelling in the neck seen in 58 (96.67%) patients. The most common diagnosis on FNAC was colloid goiter seen in 40 (66.67%) patients. The most common was benign nodular colloid goiter seen in 35 (58.33%) patients.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Fine needle aspiration is a very useful and indispensible test in the diagnosis of thyroid lesions.</p>

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Oral cancer consists of a group of neoplasms affecting any region of the oral cavity. This term is commonly used interchangeably with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), representing the most frequent of all oral neoplasms. Factors affecting the development of the oral squamous cell carcinoma are tobacco use, alcohol consumption, low socio-economic status, poor hygiene, poor diet, viral infection like HPV, ill-fitting dentures, jagged teeth.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> An institution based retrospective observational study was conducted in the department of ENT, GMC Jammu, including the records of the patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma admitted from June 2016 to July 2019. 80 patients of oral carcinoma were included in the study.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Male to female ratio was 5.1:1. Mean age of presentation was 49.2±4.1 with most of the cases presenting in the 6^th decade. 27 (33.75%) patients had history of chewing tobacco alone, 17 (21%) had smoking with chewing tobacco and 10 (12.5 %) smoking with alcohol. 52% patients presented with growth of tongue (52%) followed by buccal mucosa (17.5%) and other sites. Histopathological grading of OSCC showed predominance of well differentiated cancer in 44 cases (55%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Cases of OSCC are increasing day by day in young generation due to increasing exposure to the risk habits which are easily accessible to them.</p>

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Septoplasty is one the most commonly performed surgery in ENT. The aim of this study was to evaluate change in voice after septoplasty using voice handicap index (VHI).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> The current study was conducted at Department of ENT, SMGS Hospital, Government Medical College, Jammu, from October 2017 to November 2018. The study population was the patients who had come to the department with deviated nasal septum admitted for septoplasty. Voice assessment was done by Subjective Voice evaluation using VHI. It was done at three times i.e. preoperatively, postoperatively at 1 week and then postoperatively at 1 month.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Out of 50 cases operated, 84% patients of present study were in the age group of 18-30 years. The mean age was 25 years. The eldest patient in our study was 55 years old. 40 patients were males and 10 were females with male: female ratio of 4:1. Mean VHI score at preoperative, postoperative 1 week and postoperative 1 month were 23.2, 22 and 21.5 respectively. No statistical difference was obtained while comparing the mean VHI score at different time intervals. The scores between 0-30 are in the mild category i.e. minimal amount of handicap.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> According to our experience a widened nasal cavity has no effect on voice quality and procedures about nasal obstruction like septoplasty can be performed safely. However, professional voice users, in particular, should be informed about the possible minor postoperative changes, before the septoplasty procedure. </p>

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Tracheostomy is one of the most frequently performed surgeries in the emergency department, Intensive care units and at bedside in the present scenario. The aim of our study is to outline the frequent indications, to analyse various complications and to evaluate the outcomes of tracheostomy in our setting in our Institution.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This retrospective study was conducted in the Department of ENT and Head &amp; Neck Surgery, SMGS Hospital, Jammu from January 2018 to January 2020. The cases were recorded from ENT Department and also intensive medical care, intensive neonatal and pediatric care, intensive respiratory care, surgical intensive care units of our institution. We included all the emergency, elective and prophylactic tracheostomies in this group.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Out of 100 patients included in our study, male: female ratio was 2.7:1. 61 (61%) patients were in the age group of 41 to 60 years. The mean age was 43 years. In our study 58 (58%) tracheostomies were done on emergency. 38 (38%) were done electively whereas rest 4 (4%) were done prophylactically. 37 (37%) tracheostomies were done for upper airway obstruction, followed by artificial ventilation done in 36 (36%) patients. The most indication was carcinoma seen in 17 (17%) patient followed by head injury seen in 16 (16%) patients. The most common complication was surgical emphysema seen in 8(8%) tracheostomies followed by haemorrhage in 6 (6%) tracheostomies.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Tracheostomy still remains a life saving procedure in the surgical management of airway if performed timely despite its few complications.</p>

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> In India the overall incidence of cancer is low. However the cancers of head and neck have high incidence like that of larynx and pharynx.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This is a retrospective study conducted in the department of ENT, SMGS Hospital, GMC Jammu, for a period of 3 years from June 2016 to March 2019. 112 patients with cancer of larynx and hypopharynx were included in the study.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> The male to female ratio in the present study was 9:1. Mean age of presentation of the patients was 57.9±4.6 years. Hoarseness was the overall the most common complaint of the patients presenting with malignancy of larynx and hypopharynx (80.35%), followed by the complaint of dysphagia (68.7%). Smoking and alcohol consumption was the most common risk factor associated. 78 (69.6%) had primary malignancy of larynx and 34 (30.4%) had primary malignancy arising from hypopharynx. Most common site of presentation for laryngeal cancer was supraglottis (56/78) while pyriform sinus was the most common site to be involved in hypopharynx (24/34). 76 out of 112 patients (67.8%) presented with neck nodes. 41% of the patients presented in stage III and 32.14% patients presented in stage IV malignancy.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Malignant laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers are presented in late stages when management options become limited and survival of the patients fall significantly. Awareness of the symptoms developing due to laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer is necessary so that people can recognize the developing cancers in earliest stages.</p>