In our ENT practice, foreign bodies were more commonly seen in children; the ears were the preferential site of occurrence. Complication rates and use of general anesthesia were low in our practice. It should be stressed that ENT foreign bodies need to be properly managed so as to avoid complications.

Among the patients seen in the emergency department of otolaryngology evaluated in this study, 62.77% corresponded to cases of urgency/emergency, predominantly in the otology subspecialty.

The incidence of intratemporal complications remains significant when compared to the rates seen in developed countries. Chronic cholesteatomatous otitis media is the most frequent etiology of intratemporal complications. Labyrinthine fistula is the most common intratemporal complication.

Objective: To evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of care in the emergency department of otorhinolaryngology at a high complexity hospital in Sao Paulo over a 12-month period. Method: Epidemiological, cross-sectional study, with data collection carried out from medical records of the emergency department of otorhinolaryngology of a high complexity hospital in Sao Paulo, for a period of 12 months. Data collected were: age, sex, clinical diagnosis, and management. The cases were divided by subspecialty: otology, rhinology, pharyngolaryngoesthomatology, and head and neck surgery. Level of urgency/emergency, etiology, and monthly distribution of visits were evaluated. Results: A total of 18,279 medical records were obtained, and 2639 were excluded. Of the 15,640 cases included, the average age was 36.3 years; 54.49% were women and 45.50% were men. A total of 9818 (62.77%) corresponded to cases considered as emergency/urgency. Among the urgency/emergency cases, 6422 (65.41%) were diagnosis in otology, 1767 (17.99%) in rhinology, 1453 (14.79%) in pharyngolaryngoesthomatology, and 176 (1.79%) in head and neck surgery. Inflammatory and infectious diseases comprised 65.04% among the urgency/emergency cases. Conclusion: Among the attendances in the emergency department of otolaryngology evaluated in this study, 62.77% corresponded to cases of urgency/emergency, predominantly in the otology subspecialty. Inflammatory and infectious diseases comprised most cases.