ENT Emergency Treatment and Alcohol Related Head and Neck Injuries

Introduction: The spectrum of ENT-diseases can differ widely among emergency departments (ED) of different geographic regions. Especially in terms of head and neck trauma a higher number of injuries can be expected in large cities due to alcohol related violence. Patients and Methods: The ED of a large hospital situated in the center of Hamburg Germany was analysed for ENT-emergency treatments in 2011 retrospectively. Beside usual patient statistics, the study focused on alcohol related injuries with an ENT-surgeon involved. All data were compared to reports by other EDs in Germany and alcohol related costs were approximated for initiation of prevention programs in the future. Results: 2 339 ENT-patients were admitted to the ED. 19% of all patients used an ambulance whereas 80% reached the ED by private transportation. The majority of patients were between 21 and 30 years of age. For 143 of all trauma cases alcohol involvement was documented. Subanalysis revealed male dominance and a high use of ambulance transportation. Discussion: The high number of traumata differs considerably from other ENT studies. One reason is the hospital's close proximity to all time party districts like "Reeperbahn" and the "Port of Hamburg". In those areas high amounts of alcohol ingestion takes place leading to more injuries at the head-and neck region. Theoretically financial resources would be plenty after the initiation of those programs as the severe costs for alcohol related medical treatment would decline.