Extra hour emergency patients in an ear nose and throat clinic.

A total of 1, 091 patients consulted our night emergency ear nose and throat clinic during the 3-year period from 1987 through 1989.1) Between 5p.m. and 10p.m., 812 (about 74%) patients came to the clinic.2) About 62% of these patients were under 10 years of age. Small children between 3 and 6 years of age accounted for most of them.3) About 78% of the patients lived in the district in which our clinic was located, covered by the Shibukawa District Medical Association.4) Common diseases included i) acute otitis media (47.0%), ii) acute upper respiratory tract infection (13.6%), iii) foreign body ingestion (11.5%) and nasal bleeding (10.4%).The main problems were: 1) non-emergency cases, 2) some patitents with ENT emergencies, such as epistaxis or vertigo, were taken to general emergency hospitals.