[An epidemiological study of otolaryngologic emergency diseases]

We studied 2561 cases of otolaryngologic emergencies in the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital from January 1, 1985, to December 31, 1989, looking for the distribution and epidemiology of these emergency diseases. Our conclusions were as follows: 1. Total emergency otolaryngologic cases [otologic cases and pharyngolaryngologic cases] demonstrated a tendency to increase from year to year. 2. Acute otitis media and foreign bodies of the nose also showed an increase from year to year. 3. The "top five" emergency otolaryngologic diseases in order of frequency were: epistaxis (22.7%), foreign bodies of the throat (18.7%), acute tonsillitis (11.4%), acute otitis media (7.7%), and foreign bodies of the ear (6.4%). 4. Patients admitted to the emergency department (7.2%) ranked in order of frequency were: epistaxis (29%), acute tonsillitis (24.5%) and esophageal foreign bodies (14.1%). 5. Emergency visits occurred most frequently between 20-24 o'clock (26.5%) daily; the least from 4-8 o'clock (9.3%).