Minimal criteria Flashcards
Symptoms and clinical features of diffuse otitis externa
Symptoms:
- Earache
- The external part of the ear canal is painful (especially the tragus)
- Discharge
- Itching
- Ear congestion
- Hearing loss
- Fever is uncommon.
Clinical findings:
- Swelling and hyperemia of the skin of the ear canal
- Serous or purulent discharge
- Accumulation of debris in the ear canal
- Tympanic membrane appears to be normal
Symptoms and clinical features of acute otitis media (AOM) – suppurative form
Symptoms: 1. Earache 2. Hearing loss 3+4. Nasal discharge and congestion 5+6. Fever, malaise 7. If perforation is present: otorrhea
Clinical findings:
- Ear canal appears to be normal
- Hyperemia of tympanic membrane
- Later in the course of the disease: marked bulging of the tympanic membrane, subsequently spontaneous perforation can develop.
Causes of acute hearing loss
Conductive type:
1+2. Wax, foreign body
3+4. Acute tubal occlusion, otitis media (OME/AOM)
5. Trauma (eg. perforation of the tympanic membrane)
Sensorineural type:
- Noise (acute) induced hearing loss
- Viral infection
- Vascular causes
- Toxical damage (medication, chemicals)
- Traumas
What is to be done in case of acute sensorineural hearing loss?
In case of acute sensorineural hearing loss:
- Immediate intravenous nootropic/vasodilatating therapy or steroid bolus treatment is necessary with hospitalization
- Meanwhile detailed investigation is required to be carried out to clarify the etiology.
- The earlier the treatment is started, the better the outcome is.
Recognition of hearing loss in childhood
Signs of hearing loss in childhood:
- The newborn does not react to sounds
- Tone of crying is unusual
- Babbling period does not appear
- Visual orientation is dominant
- Speech development is delayed
- Tone, pitch, intensity, melody and rhythm of the speech is pathologic
- Articulation disorders;
- Worse reading and writing skills
Causes of ear pain
Primary otalgia:
- Otitis
- Tumors of the ear
Referred ear pain:
- Tumors and inflammations of the larynx, pharynx, tonsils, base of the tongue
- Dental inflammations, temporomandibular joint syndrome, neuralgic pain.
Complications of acute otitis media (AOM)
Extracranial:
- Intratemporal
1. Acute mastoiditis
2. Zygomaticitis
3. Petrositis
4. Facial nerve palsy
5. Labyrinthitis - Extratemporal
1. Abscess: subperiosteal, preauricular, suboccipital, Bezold’s abscess
Intracranial
- Extradural abscess
- Sinus phlebitis - sinus thrombosis
- Subdural abscess
- Meningitis, encephalitis
- Brain abscess
General: sepsis.
Clinical features and symptoms of acute mastoiditis
- Associated with, or following acute otitis media
- The pinna is pushed forward
- Retroauricular pain, erythema
- The posterior wall of the external ear canal is swollen, seems to be lowered
- Pulsating, severe pain
- Pulsating otorrhea
Causes of unilateral otitis media with effusion (OME) in adults and childhood
- Chronic dysfunction of the Eustachian tube (adenoid vegetation or nasopharyngeal tumor)
- In adults, the possibility of a nasopharyngeal tumor must not be left out of consideration!
How to diagnose vertigo caused by vestibular disorders
Patient history:
- Type of vertigo (sensation of spinning or falling)
- Vegetative symptoms, nausea, vomiting.
Examination:
- Deviation, tilting;
- Spontaneous nystagmus and nystagmus provoked by head movements.
Causes of peripherial facial palsy (list)
- Bell’s palsy
- Herpes zoster oticus
- Other viral or bacterial infections (HSV, EBV, Lyme)
- Acute and chronic middle ear diseases (acute and chronic middle ear infections, cholesteatoma, rarely tumors)
- Tumors of the pontocerebellar angle, vestibular schwannoma
- Cranial traumas (pyramid bone fractures), extratemporal traumas
- Malignant tumors of parotid gland.
Primary management of epistaxis/nosebleeding (at home/ambulance/by GP)
- The patient should lean forward with open mouth, firm digital pressure should be applied to both nasal alae for 10 minutes
- Ephedrine/nasal drop/vasocontrictor solution-imbibed cotton or spongostan should be applied in nasal cavity
- Cold compress should be applied to the nape of the neck and to the nasal dorsum
- Blood pressure-measurement, antihypertensive treatment if needed.
Management of epistaxis/nosebleeding (anterior, posterior) by ENT professionals
- Blood pressure-measurement, antihypertensive treatment - if needed
- Visible bleeding source: chemical cauterization (trichloroacetate, silver nitrate) or coagulation (bipolar electrocoagulation)
- Anterior nasal bleeding: anterior nasal packing
- Posterior nose bleeding: posterior nasal packing (Bellocq tamponade), balloon catheter.
Management and complications of nasal folliculitis and furuncles
- Circumscript folliculitis: local therapy with antibiotic and steroid containing creams, vapor coverage
- The patient should be told not to pick or squeeze the lesions
- For furunculosis and/or phlegmonous reaction, parenteral antibiotics should be administered, along with vapor coverage
- The infection is usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus
- Possible complications: Facial phlegmone, angular vein thrombophlebitis, cavernous sinus thrombosis.
Types of rhinitis (list)
- Common infections: Simple acute rhinitis, purulent rhinitis;
- Specific forms of Rhinitis: TB, syphilis, sarcoidosis;
- Allergic rhinitis
- Atrophic rhinitis (oezena)
- Rhinitis sicca anterior.
- Other causes: idiopathic, vasomotoric, hormonal, drug-induced, rhinitis medicamentosa, occupational (caused by irritants) foodstuffs. (3 causes are required from the “other” group)