[Interdisciplinary emergency departments : first experiences from the ENT and head and neck perspective]

Centralized emergency departments are becoming a major source of health care in Germany. In this study, we evaluated the importance for ENT health care.

In a retrospective study, all ENT emergency patients between May and July 2011 were characterized by diagnosis, therapy, and urgency (measured using the Manchester Triage System [MTS]). General epidemiological data from the emergency department were recorded between 2009 and 2011.

Between 2009 and 2011, 50,699 patients were treated in the centralized emergency department of the University Hospital Bonn. A total of 15,658 (30.8%) needed ENT health care. During May 2011 to July 2011, ENT emergency patients had not only a wide variety of diseases but also a broad range of ages (0-98 years). Using the MTS, emergency patients (4% acute emergencies) were identified and urgency was determined prior to first contact with the physician.

ENT emergency care plays an important role for centralized emergency departments. Most of the patients have ENT diseases treatable as an outpatient in a single visit. MTS can be used to determine the appropriate level of urgency.