Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)

Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) is a medical specialty dealing with diseases and disorders that can affect the ears, nasal cavities and throat, and the points where they connect in the face and neck.

The ENT consultation includes taking the patient’s history: lifestyle, symptoms, previous conditions, any ongoing treatment and medicines taken.

The specialist will then carry out the examination, with all the tests that can help identify the causes of the symptoms described by the patient.

In particular, at the doctor’s discretion and depending on the patient’s needs, the following additional tests may be carried out:

• a video rhino-pharyngo-laryngoscopy (or, more briefly, video fibroscopy), a test performed with a thin fibre-optic endoscope that allows the doctor to explore the inside of the nose, the openings to the paranasal sinuses, the nasopharynx with the openings of the Eustachian tubes, the oropharynx, the hypopharynx and the larynx with the vocal cords;
• a pure-tone audiometry test, which allows a thorough study of the patient’s hearing function.

Advanced fibroscopy

The POLISMedica ENT Clinic is equipped with a modern fibre-optic video rhino-pharyngo-laryngoscope that allows a particularly accurate examination of the upper airways.

The test is performed by passing a thin optical fibre through a nostril until it reaches the nasopharynx, the area just behind the nose. Once the nasopharynx is reached, the ENT specialist, who can see the images coming from the tip of the instrument through an optical viewer or a camera, can see the pharynx and larynx properly and completely.

The test is slightly uncomfortable but completely painless.

This method is now an almost indispensable investigation for studying the main conditions of the larynx (voice changes, etc.) and the pharynx (adenoid hyperplasia, etc.), and for studying obstructive nasal disorders (rhinosinusitis, nasal obstruction of other kinds).

The test also provides photographic documentation of the images acquired.