Informatics Publishing Limited

S. A. Ogah ¹, T. Lasebikan ¹, Y. E. Owa ²

Affiliations
1 Otolaryngology Unit, Dept. of Surgery, Federal Medical Centre, P.M.B. 1001, Lokoja, NG
2 Dept. of Ophthalmology, Federal Medical Centre, P.M.B. 1001, Lokoja, NG

Abstract

Bleeding from the nose is common and causes a lot of apprehension among family members especially if it is the first episode. It has been stated that 60% of people will have at least an episode of nose bleeding during their life time and that 6% of them will need referral to the ENT Surgeon. The disease has been known since the time of Hippocrates and the simple technique of digital compression of the external nose (pinching the ala nasi) is called the Hippocratic technique. Hospital admissions with or without surgical interventions are usually not necessary in many patients except in refractory cases.

This is a 3 year review of all patients seen in the Ear, Nose and Throat outpatient’s clinic from January 2013 to December 2015. Patients’ demographic factors, aetiologic factors and treatment modality were extracted from the case files, studied and analyzed. Results presented in text and table format.

A total number of 61 cases were seen during the period, 7 files could not be retrieved and 5 had inadequate information. So the remaining 49 patients were 26 males (53.1%) and 23 Females (46.9%) with a male to female ratio of 1.1:1. Their ages ranged from 3 to 80 years with the 31-40 age range recording the highest number (22.4%) of epistaxis. Twenty two patients (44.9%) had an unknown cause (idiopathic), followed by trauma (18.4%) and rhinosinusitis (14.3%). Anterior nasal packing (57.1%) was the most successful modality of treatment offered while Hippocratic technique combined with ice pack on nasal bridge (10.2%) was the least.

Epistaxis is the most common and most difficult nasal emergencies with challenging issues despite improved medical facilities. However, the prognosis is good with early referral to the ENT Surgeon.

Keywords

Epistaxis, Cases, Review, Lokoja.

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S. A. Ogah ¹, T. Lasebikan ¹

Affiliations
1 Otolaryngology Division, Department of Surgery, Federal Medical Centre, P.M.B. 1001, Lokoja, NG

Abstract

Noise exposure is one of the common causes of tinnitus the world over. In Nigeria, increase in prayer houses (churches and mosques), industrial machines, automobile and electricity generating sets have caused a sharp rise in environmental noise. To the best of my knowledge no existing data on the prevalence of tinnitus in Lokoja, North Central Nigeria and this study tends to provide one. Aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of tinnitus amongst patients attending the E.N.T Outpatient clinic of the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja, North Central Nigeria.This is a hospital base retrospective study of patients seen in the Ear, Nose and Throat outpatient’s clinic of the Federal Medical Centre Lokoja, North Central Nigeria from January 2011 to December 2015 with the symptom of tinnitus. Patients’ demographic factors, aetiologic factors if any and treatment modality were extracted from the case files, studied and analyzed. Results presented in text and table format. Results showed that out of 2,184 patients seen 114 had tinnitus with a prevalence of 5.2%. The age range was 23-70 years with a mean age of 39.92 years and a modal age group of 31-40 (28.1%) years. Males were 60(52.6%) and females were 54(47.4%) giving a male to female ratio of 1.1: 1. Eighty eight patients (77.2%) had a known cause while 26 patients (22.8%) were idiopathic. Noise exposure (23.7%) was found to be the commonest cause of tinnitus, followed by ototoxicity (21.1%) and presbyacusis (19.3%). The prevalence of tinnitus in Lokoja, North Central Nigeria is low and the commonest aetiologic factor is noise induced sensorineural hearing loss. These data can be used for planning and funding of our health-care services.

Keywords

Tinnitus, Prevalence, Ototoxicity, Presbyacusis, Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

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