Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0262471 (ENT)
 5,307 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Upper airway obstruction is defined as blockage of any portion of the airway above the thoracic inlet. Stridor, suprasternal retractions, and change of voice are the sentinel signs of upper airway obstruction. Most of the common causes among children presenting to emergency department are of acute infectious etiology. Among these, croup is the commonest while diphteria remains the most serious life-threatening cause. Recent reports indicate that bacterial tracheitis has become increasingly common. In ER evaluation the key clinical data in determining the cause and the site of obstruction are the onset, presence of fever, character of the stridor, retractions, the voice and the ability to handle secretions. After assessment of the severity of respiratory distress and resuscitative or supportive therapy including oxygen and emergent airway, specific treatment is directed at underlying etiology. All patients with audible stridor require early endotracheal intubation/tracheostomy. In croup the mainstay of treatment are cold humidified oxygen, budesonide nebulization ( in mild cases), Dexamethasone 0.6 mg/kg iv or im (in moderate and severe cases), and Adrenaline 5 ml 1:1000 (5 mg) solution as nebulization ( in severe cases). In diphtheria, early tracheostomy, anti-diphtheric serum and injectable penicillin are critical. Bacterial Tracheitis and Retropharyngeal abscess need early administration of injectable Cloxacillin, Amikacin and Clindamycin. ENT consultation should be obtained for early surgical drainage of retropharyngeal abscess. Angioneurotic edema is treated with subcutaneous adrenaline (1:1000, 0.01 ml/kg); hydrocortisone 10 mg/kg IV and antihistamines. Patients with severe obstruction and those with endotracheal tube/ trachesotomy should be transferred to PICU.
 ...
PMID:Acute upper airway obstruction. 2155 8

Dexamethasone administration prior to tonsillectomy has been shown to reduce morbidity and is part of SIGN guideline 117. We conducted a three-cycle audit of 149 patients to ascertain how well guidelines were being met and introduce a sustainable method to improve compliance. A 3-month audit was conducted to ascertain how many tonsillectomy patients didn't receive pre-operative dexamethasone. ENT secretaries were requested to add 'Dex Please' to tonsillectomy theatre lists. A 3-month re-audit was conducted; the intervention was only implemented in half of cases and so a reminding tool for the secretarial staff was administered before a third cycle. Initially, there was 73% compliance to SIGN guidelines, this improved to 87% in the second cycle. After the second intervention, all tonsillectomy theatre lists had the 'Dex Please' note and compliance to SIGN guidelines was 100%. There were five readmissions in the first cycle, three in the second and two in the third cycle. All readmissions were underdosed according to guidelines. Understanding there are regular staff rotations throughout many U.K. hospitals, we implemented a reliable method to increase compliance to guidelines which helped reduce post-operative readmission after tonsillectomy. This can be easily introduced to other institutions and for other perioperative requirements.
...
PMID:Perioperative dexamethasone administration in tonsillectomy patients: A three-cycle audit showing improvement using printed theatre lists. 2673 56