Upper respiratory tract infection

We treat a lot of patients with upper respiratory tract infectious disease including acute pharyngotonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, acute epiglotitis and deep neck abscess.

We assess the severity of acute pharyngotonsillitis with scoring system.

 
 

We administer intravenous injection of penicillin (Ampicillin/ Sulbactam) to the patients with upper respiratory tract infectious disease.
We incise and drain to the patients with the abscess.
We conduct Quinsy tonsillectomy for the treatment of inferior type of peritonsillar abscess.

 



Swallowing disorder

A swallowing disorder is usually caused by a central nervous system disorder such as cerebral infarction and hemorrhage, neuromascular disease, or as a side effect of surgery for head and neck cancer. This condition is more common in older people. We routinely evaluate the degree of swallowing disorder by using videofluorography (VF) and videoendoscopy (VE). Speech-language-hearing therapists (ST) teach patients to perform and practice many exercises to improve swallowing during their dysphagia rehabilitation. To improve swallowing function in patients with brain stem infarction such as Wallenberg syndrome, we perform surgery called cricopharyngeal myotomy and laryngeal suspension. Surgery to prevent aspiration, including laryngotracheal separation and total laryngectomy, is indicated for the patients with severe repeated aspiration pneumonia.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS)

OSAS is the most common type of sleep apnea; it is caused by complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway. This condition is characterized by repetitive episodes of shallow or paused breathing during sleep, despite the effort to breathe, and is usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. Severity of OSAS measured by the apnea hypopnea index (AHI) is assessed with the apnomonitor and/or polysomnography (PSG). Patients with an AHI greater than 40 are advised to use nasal-continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). More than 100 patients use nasal-CPAP in our outpatient clinic; most of them sleep well. We recommend uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) for patients with tonsillar hypertrophy.