ENT surgery-current scope, problems and perspective

ENT surgery as a speciality has evolved rapidly in recent times. The concept of conservative surgery in each sub-speciality is the trend now-a-days. In Sialology, salivary gland preservation is the new concept. Similarly FESS and transoral laser surgery for laryngeal pathology aim to conserve the functional aspects of paranasal sinuses and larynx respectively. Computer aided image guidance and robotic surgery are the technological advances in the recent times, which are helping the surgeons to deal with difficult cases. The current problems of ENT as a whole lie in the post-operative morbidity in terms of lower cranial nerve palsies in skull-base surgery, speech and swallowing problems in laryngeal and oral cavity resections. The rehabilitation of this subset of patients need special attention. The future of ENT lies in the conservative surgery, robotic surgery and image guidance surgery.