There is a shortage of otorhinolaryngologists – medical specialists with expertise in managing issues involving the ear, throat, larynx, and oesophagus, including voice, speech, and swallowing difficulties.
This has sparked a series of training workshops for ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, offered by UKZN’s Otorhinolaryngology discipline, under the leadership of Dr Lindokuhle Sibiya, the Chief Specialist and Head of Department who recently completed her Master of Business Administration at the University of Oxford in England.
The latest gathering was an exciting range of workshops on endoscopic ear surgery, temporal bone and auditory implants dissection, where registrars and consultants from across South Africa spent a week at the Medical School and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH), learning how to skilfully operate on patients with conditions associated with the delicate ENT passageway, including in paediatrics.
‘There is a serious shortage of ENT specialists in the country and yet we see widespread cases of congenital malfunction in paediatrics (disease or physical abnormality presenting from birth), chronic ear discharge, as well as in elderly persons experiencing degenerative issues,’ said workshop conveners, UKZN honorary lecturer and Head of RK Khan Hospital’s ENT Clinical Unit, Dr Lungelwa Sigonya and Ngwelezana Hospital’s ENT Specialist, Dr Lungile Setoaba.
It was the fourth consecutive workshop convened in the discipline, which on this occasion was facilitated by a host of local and international experts, also covering live rhinoplasty surgery – surgery to change the shape of the nose to improve ENT-related conditions.
Participants operated on cadavers at the Medical School before the live rhinoplasty surgery workshop at IALCH.
Sigonya and Setoaba said the loss of hearing depleted communication ability, often leading to cases of depression and dementia. They said it was saddening that ENT services did not adequately reach the socially and economically marginalised, and also cautioned the public against preventable risk factors such as noise-induced hearing loss, the prevalence of which is exacerbated by socially acceptable behaviour including the use of headphones, especially for prolonged duration and loud noise levels, common among young people.
The workshop exposed registrars to prevalent ENT conditions, delving into the anatomy of the ENT passageway and highlighting technological advancements that all specialists needed to be well-versed with.
