10.14639/0392-100X-suppl.1-41-2021
application/xml
1827-675X
1681
en
Gaetano Paludetti
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
ACTA Otorhinolaryngologica Italica
Limits of ENT surgery: when a multidisciplinary approach is required in skull base, orbit, dental pathologies and head-neck tumours involving skin. Introduction
Text.Serial.Journal
https://www.actaitalica.it/
41
Annual congress report
2021-05-14
2021-05-10
2021-05-14
2021-05-14
1-2
1
Gaetano Paludetti
2021/05/14
10.14639/0392-100X-suppl.1-41-2021
1
Chairman Department of Head and Neck Surgery. Otorhinolaryngology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy President of Italian Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery
1827-675X
2
Limits of ENT surgery: when a multidisciplinary approach is required in skull base, orbit, dental pathologies and head-neck tumours involving skin. Introduction
https://www.actaitalica.it/article/download/1681/554
41
ACTA OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGICA ITALICA 2021;41(SUPPL.1):S1-S2




107th Congress of the Italian Society of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery - 2021
Official report


Limits of ENT surgery: when a multidisciplinary
approach is required in skull base, orbit, dental
pathologies and head-neck tumours involving skin.
Introduction
Patologia di confine otorinolaringoiatrica: approccio chirurgico multidisciplinare alle
malattie della base cranica, dell’orbita, dell’apparato dentario e dei tumori testa-collo
con infiltrazione della cute.
Introduzione

I really thank the Italian Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck
Surgery for assigning me such a difficult task. Our specialty has experienced a
profound change over the last twenty years, by refining the knowledge about
the spectrum of ENT diseases and improving our surgical performance with
an increasing number of surgical treatment modalities. This new wave of in-
novation changed our way of working, driving us to exceed our limit and going
beyond the line of the standard ENT anatomic fields. In this scenario, great
efforts have been made in order to cope with the risks of a new extended surgi-
cal approach, requiring an integrated collaboration with other head and neck
surgical specialists.
We are witness of an epochal change, consisting of an evolutionary signifi-
cance, never seen before. I first-hand experienced, during my very long ENT
activity, the importance of an increasing multidisciplinary surgical approach
to several ENT pathologies. The official report of the Italian Society of Oto-
rhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery for this year, essentially aimed
to focus the attention on this topic, by outlining the complementarity between      professor Gaetano Paludetti
the different surgical specialties that share the head and neck district as the     Chairman Department of Head and Neck Surgery.
                                                                                    Otorhinolaryngology,
main field of action. The overlapping surgical practice by several surgeon in       Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
the same anatomic region may represent a prickly issue; this situation, in fact,    Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli
if well-handled could guarantee better surgical outcomes, which could signifi-      IRCCS, Rome, Italy
                                                                                    President of Italian Society of Otorhinolaryngology
cantly improve the quality of life of patients; on the other hand, the relation-    and Head & Neck Surgery
ship with other specialists may not always be simple, and close cooperation         E-mail: gaetano.paludetti@unicatt.it;
and mutual trust are essential to ensure higher levels of care. Moreover, it is     gaetano.paludetti@policlinicogemelli.it

important from a medico-legal point of view, in order to reduce the number of
troubles, to strictly follow updated guidelines and other specialists’ expertise.
                                                                                    © Società Italiana di Otorinolaringoiatria
Cooperation between the ENT surgeon and other specialists is crucial, since         e Chirurgia Cervico-Facciale
all of the different anatomic areas affected by pathologies have distinctive
characteristics and the best results in terms of life expectancy and patients’                     OPEN ACCESS
quality of life can only be achieved through a synergic surgical approach. The      This is an open access article distributed in accordance with
                                                                                    the CC-BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-Non-
cooperation between specialists should always start from the early diagnosis        Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International) license. The
of different pathologies that involve shared field of action and should continue    article can be used by giving appropriate credit and mentio-
                                                                                    ning the license, but only for non-commercial purposes and
along the all diagnostic work-up, in order to achieve the best therapeutic strat-   only in the original version. For further information: https://
egy. This kind of tailored management, takes into account the needs of each         creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en




                                                                                                                                              S1
G. Paludetti




patient, driving step by step to the correct therapeutic approach by involving several surgeons, each of them with a different
expertise but with a complementary action.
Herewith, in our report we focused the attention on the modalities of cooperation between surgeons during the surgical
management of complex disease, involving borderline anatomic sites. We underlined how other specialists’ expertise al-
lows to manage difficult situations and their potential complications, in the light of a decreasing rate of surgical failures.
In particular, the communication between the ENT surgeon and other surgeons (such as ophthalmologist, neurosurgeon,
dentist and reconstructive surgeon) is critical and time-sensitive for a successful treatment with high success rate. In this
report, we have intentionally excluded the discussion about the lateral skull base, as it was the central topic of the official
report of 2019, and about the medical diseases in the ENT domain in which cooperation with other specialists is needed
(neurologists, immunologists, etc.).
I am finally profoundly grateful to all the Authors who contributed to this official report. All this work was carried out hop-
ing that it could be subject of debate and an instrument for the enrichment of all the readers.

                                                                                                            Gaetano Paludetti




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