Basic ENT Surgeries

Otorhinolaryngologists (also known as otolaryngologists or ear, nose and throat or ENT Surgeons) are surgical specialists who diagnose, evaluate and manage a wide range of diseases of the head and neck, including the ear, nose and throat region.

Common procedures tonsillectomy (removal of tonsils) or adenoidectomy (removal of adenoids), most often in children. Septoplasty correction of nasal septum to prevent obstruction and enable clear breathing. Micro-laryngoscopy a short metal tube (laryngoscope) is inserted into the larynx (voice box).

ENT surgeons often treat conditions that affect the senses such as hearing and balance disorders or smell and taste problems. They also treat patients with conditions that affect their voice, breathing and swallowing as well as those with head and neck tumours including the skull base and interface with the brain.

ENT surgeons may treat people of all ages from newborn babies to elderly people. They see more children than most other surgeons, apart from paediatric surgeons. One of the attractions is that they treat a wide spectrum of ages and diseases.

A proportion of an ENT surgeon’s time is spent in outpatient clinics and managing conditions medically without the need for surgery. The use of microscopes & endoscopes in outpatients allows treatment/ diagnosis in the clinic. ENT has possibly the widest range of operations of any speciality from major head & neck procedures with flaps & complex reconstructions to microsurgery on the ear.

ENT surgeons treat a very wide range of conditions. These include:

• ear conditions
• nose conditions
• throat conditions
• head and neck conditions
• facial cosmetic surgery

Ear conditions include:

• otosclerosis  (a condition of the middle ear that causes hearing loss) and other problems with hearing and deafness
• otitis media with effusion – a common condition of childhood (also known as glue ear) in which the middle ear becomes blocked with fluid
• age related hearing loss
• tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and eustachian tube dysfunction
• dizziness and vertigo
• ear infections
• perforated ear drum and cholesteatoma
• protruding ears

Nose conditions include:

• sinus infection and rhino-sinusitis, including in children
• nasal injuries
• nasal polyps
• tumours of the nose
• nasal obstruction
• disorders of the sense of smell

Throat conditions include:

• adenoid problems – surgical removal of these small glands in the throat at the back of the nose is sometimes needed, and is usually performed in childhood
• tonsillitis, sometimes requiring surgical removal of the tonsils, usually in childhood
• hoarseness and laryngitis
• swallowing problems
• upper airway breathing problems
• snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea (when breathing stops during sleep)

Head and neck conditions include:

• cancer affecting the mouth, oral cavity, throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx), salivary glands, skull base, or the nose and sinuses
• thyroid and parathyroid problems
• facial skin lesions including skin cancer