UTHSC General Otolaryngology

The General Otolaryngologist is able to manage a wide variety of ENT disorders, and can quickly refer a patient to an ENT-subspecialist when needed [rhinology (sinus); pediatric otolaryngology; facial plastic surgery; head and neck surgery; otology (ear); laryngology (voice and swallowing); sleep surgery]. They can also provide coverage of hospital emergency rooms and inpatient consults that require the opinion of an ENT specialist.

General otolaryngologists are often the most experienced ENT to deal with issues such as seasonal allergy; acute and chronic sinusitis; tonsil and adenoid enlargement; snoring and sleep apnea; hoarseness; dizziness; tinnitus; hearing loss; and masses and lumps of the head and neck. Typically, their office is located in a community office setting for ease of patient access.

The general otolaryngologist specializes in treatments that can be performed on-site in the office under local anesthesia, and quicker outpatient surgeries that can be performed in an ambulatory surgery center. Newer minimally invasive interventions include office-based radiofrequency for turbinate reduction; Latera implants for chronic nasal obstruction; Pillar implants for chronic snoring; Eustachian tube balloon for ear popping and pressure; balloon sinuplasty for isolated sinus cavity obstruction.

General:

♦  Facial trauma
♦  Facial fractures
♦  Zygoma (cheekbone) fractures
♦  Nasal bone fracture
♦  Mandible (lower jaw) fracture
♦  Maxillary (upper jaw) fracture
♦  Orbital (eye socket) fracture
♦  Skin cancers
♦  Skin growths and lesions
♦  Scar revision
♦  Keloid management

Ears:

♦  Otalgia (ear pain)
♦  Hearing loss
♦  Tinnitus (ringing in the ear)
♦  Vertigo (dizziness)
♦  Dysequilibrium (loss of balance)
♦  Otitis externa (swimmer’s ear)
♦  Otitis media (middle ear infection)
♦  Tympanic membrane perforation (hole in eardrum)
♦  Eustachian tube dysfunction (ear popping and pressure)
♦  Eustachian tube balloon

Throat:

♦  Odynophagia (painful swallowing)
♦  Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
♦  Tonsillitis (tonsil infection)
♦  Tonsillar hypertrophy (tonsil enlargement)
♦  Tongue growths and lesions
♦  Mouth ulcers or growths
♦  Dysguesia (change in taste, loss of taste)
♦  Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR, acid reflux, GI reflux)
♦  Hoarseness
♦  Vocal cord polyp
♦  Vocal cord nodule
♦  Vocal cord papilloma
♦  Tracheal stenosis
♦  Laryngeal stenosis
♦  Subglottis stenosis
♦  Airway and breathing (tracheotomy)
♦  Snoring
♦  Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
♦  Zenker’s diverticulum

Neck:

♦  Deep neck infection
♦  Lymphadenopathy (enlarge neck lymph node)
♦  Lymphadenitis (infected neck lymph nodes)
♦  Thyroid nodule
♦  Thyroid cancer
♦  Thyroid goiter
♦  Salivary stone
♦  Salivary blockage
♦  Salivary tumor
♦  Salivary cancer
♦  Sialendoscopy (salivary endoscopy)
♦  Branchial cleft cyst
♦  Thyroglossal duct cyst
♦  Lipoma (benign fatty tumor)
♦  Tracheotomy
♦  Eagle’s syndrome