Introduction/Objective. Overall number of emergency department visits,
including otorhinolaryngology, has increased. Due to population growth,
industry and traffic expansion, workload of the otorhinolaryngology
emergency department is steadily on the rise. The objective of this study
was to determine most common indications for emergency hospitalization in
otorhinolaryngology department in secondary medical center. Also, we
examined course of diagnostics and treatment upon admittance, outcome of
hospitalization and possible referral to tertiary medical center. Methods.
Retrospective study included patients who were urgently hospitalized on the
Department of otorhinolaryngology and maxillofacial surgery in Djordje
Joanovic General Hospital in Zrenjanin in a two-year period. The data were
obtained by processing patients? medical charts. Results. The study
included 428 patients who were urgently hospitalized on the Department of
otorhinolaryngology of the secondary medical center in two-year period. 245
(57.2%) were male and were 183 (42.8%) female, with average age of 48.5
years. Patients were most frequently hospitalized because of
tonsillopharyngitis and its? complications, followed by head and neck
trauma. Most of the patients were treated conservatively with medication
therapy (72%), and 28% underwent surgical or other invasive intervention. 27
(6.3%) patients were referred to tertiary medical center, which was
correlated significantly with number of comorbidities and consultative
exams. Conclusion. Otorhinolaryngology inflammatory/infectious diseases are
the most frequent indication for urgent hospital admission in secondary
medical center. Most of the patients were treated conservatively. Referral
to tertiary medical center was significantly correlated to number of
comorbidities and consultative exams.