Pediatric Otolaryngology
This is one aspect of our diverse field that we enjoy immensely – taking care of children and communicating with loving parents. Much of this aspect has been covered above with ear tubes and tonsils. But we also treat children who are tongue-tied and with other ailments.
When it comes to sinusitis and nasal problems in children, medical management is maximized even more than usual. There are two schools of thought on nasal surgery for children. One is that you can operate however much you want with no problems. The other school maintains that there are growth centers in the nose and it is important to avoid surgery if at all possible so as not to interfere with nasal development. I belong to the latter school of thought. Fortunately, we are able to avoid surgery in most cases. Where surgery is inevitable, conservative approaches are emphasized. As I tell patients routinely, “You can always do more but you can’t do less after the fact.”
Though not strictly considered as pediatric patients, we see a sizeable number of college students and love it. Their schedules are frenetic and complicated and we strive hard to work around this as much as we can as well as coordinating with their parents and physicians in whatever community they may hail from.
