Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery is a unique subspecialty in medicine that deals with medical and surgical management of disorders affecting the ear, nose, throat, and the neck; the care of the senses including smell, taste, balance, and hearing falls under its domain. As a specialty, it interfaces with other medical and surgical subspecialties including allergy and immunology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, gerontology, hematology, neurology, neurosurgery, oncology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, pulmonology, radiation oncology, rehabilitation medicine, rheumatology, and thoracic surgery among others. Further, the specialty encompasses the care of the young and the old, man and woman, as well as benign and malignant diseases.
Symptoms and diseases affecting the ear, nose, throat, and neck are common and commonly lead to patients seeking medical care. These include sinusitis, upper respiratory tract infections, hoarseness, balance disturbance, hearing loss, dysphagia, snoring, tonsillitis, ear infections, thyroid disorders, head and neck cancer, and ear wax. In this updated fourth edition of Current Diagnosis & Treatment Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, these and many other diseases are covered in a crisp and concise manner. Striking just the right balance between comprehensiveness and convenience, it emphasizes the practical features of clinical diagnosis and patient management while providing a comprehensive discussion of pathophysiology and relevant basic and clinical science. With its consistent formatting chapter-by-chapter, this text makes it simple to locate the practical information you need on diagnosis, testing, disease processes, and up-to-date treatment and management strategies. The book will be of interest to both otolaryngologists and all of the medical and surgical specialties and related disciplines that treat patients with head and neck disorders.