Endoscopic dewaxing in the audiology department--the Bristol experience.
Impacted wax accounts for a considerable proportion of cancelled appointments in the audiology department. Current practice usually involves the patient being referred back to their General Practitioner (GP) for wax removal. Endoscopic dewaxing is a technique that can be used to remove wax under direct vision. Having been trained in the technique, an audiologist successfully removed wax from 94% of the patients seen with wax preventing the appointment from going ahead. Thirty-three appointments and 29 h (1740 min) of appointment time were saved over the 6-week period. When introduced with sufficient training of staff, endoscopic dewaxing offers a solution to the problem of impacted wax in the audiology department.
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Nieuwoudt
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D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002571:Cerumen; D004424:Ear Canal; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom