Trans-oral Extra Tonsillar Approach of Styloidectomy for Treatment of Eagle’s Syndrome among Operated Cases of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Eagle’s syndrome is a poorly understood clinical entity that has variable presentations like recurrent throat pain or foreign body sensation, dysphagia, or facial pain. With a confirmed diagnosis, a surgical approach is considered appropriate for its treatment. This study aims to find out the prevalence of trans-oral extra tonsillar approach of styloidectomy among the operated cases of Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,475 who underwent surgery at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in a tertiary care center of Nepal between July 2018 to September 2020 after receiving the ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 0106201802). Convenience sampling was done and data was entered in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. Point estimate at 95% confidence interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: Among 1,475 patients enrolled in the study, 24 (1.62%) patients (95% Confidence Interval= 0.97-2.26) underwent trans-oral extra tonsillar approach of surgery for Eagle’s syndrome during the study duration. Conclusions: The prevalence of styloidectomy among the operated cases of our study is low in comparison to other studies done in similar settings. Transoral extra tonsillar approach can be considered as a novel approach for surgical removal of the styloid process in Eagle’s Syndrome.

Keywords

• eagle’s syndrome; stylohyoid ligament; styloidectomy; styloid process.