Evaluation of the results of direct laryngoscopy of patients with larynx and hypopharynx signs and lesions in ENT specialized medical centers of Birjand city

Introduction: Laryngeal and hypopharyngeal lesions areamong common head-and-neck diseases. Evaluating them with direct laryngoscope provides information about the kinds and regions of the lesions, whichalong with the clinical signs helps to diagnose and determine the treatment plans. The aim of this study is to evaluatethe frequency distribution of different types of laryngeal and hypopharyngeal lesions viadirect laryngoscopyofthe patients referred to the medical centers of Birjand city. Methods: This cross-sectionalstudy wasperformed on 165 patients referred to all ENT specialized medical centers of Birjand city who,according to the primary clinical diagnosis, were in need of direct laryngoscopy. Patients with bronchial or lower lesions were omitted from the study. The necessary information including age, sex, residence, primary complaint, risk factors,type and region of the lesion was collected with the patient’s consent. Data were analyzed in SPSS 18 software usingKruskal-Wallis and Chi-Square tests. The significance level was set at P<0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 43.76±23.66 years, and 53.3% were male. The most frequent primary complaint was dysphonia,the most frequent types of lesion were foreign object and neoplasm, the most involved regions were glottis and hypopharynx, and the most frequent risk factors were opium and smoking.The results showed a significant correlation between the type of lesions and the variables of age, residence, risk factors and region of legions. Conclusions: The results showed that dysphonia was the most frequent primary complaint. The majority of neoplastic lesions,which had a significant correlation with smoking, opium consumption and bad nutritional habits, were seen in men,indicating the necessity to inform people about the primary signsof these lesions in order to diagnose timely and decrease tobacco use.