Otorhinolaryngological Evaluation in Politrauma Patients

Introduction: Some studies have observed frequent visits to the emergency services of the person who specialize in Otolaryngology, but there are few data on tertiary hospitals on the prevalence of otorhinolaryngological signs and symptoms.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of otorhinolaryngological signs and symptoms in patients seen in Polytrauma Care Center of Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal, Brazil.

Methods: In the period from March to June 2013, an analytical and cross-sectional retrospective study of data was done from electronic medical records of 2,502 patients. Data on trauma caused by otorhinolaryngology change areas and data on request or no evaluation of otorhinolaryngologist collected were based on gender, cause, time of trauma, and age.

Results: Of 2,502 patients, 132 (5.28%) showed otolaryngological changes, who were divided by areas of otolaryngology, 54 (40.9%) patients had the evaluation of otolaryngologist duty. Most of the signs and symptoms were related to maxillofacial trauma (38.64%), followed by otology, rhinology, pharyngostomatology, laryngology, and neurotology. Automobile accident led among the causes of admissions with 26.5%, physical aggression 23.5%; fall to 21.21 and 13.64% with trampling. The majority occurred in the afternoon and night and on weekends. The age of the patients ranged from 3 to 84 years.

Conclusion: The maxillofacial trauma was the most frequent finding of otorhinolaryngological manifestation and the least recorded was neurotology. Motor vehicle accidents were the most prevalent cause, followed by physical abuse. About 5.28% of polytrauma patients had otorhinolaryngological changes, but only 40.9% of these had requested this review, manifestations which should be evaluated by the user to avoid sequelae of trauma.