Foreword
The introduction of the antibiotics has resulted in a considerable reduction in the amount of surgery formerly necessary for diseases of the ear, nose, throat, and sinuses. It has also resulted in a considerable amount of discussion, not always dispassionate, as to whether the continued existence of Otolaryngology as a specialty is justified.There has, apparently, been no serious endeavor to determine exactly what an Otolaryngologic practice consists of in this antibiotic age. This thesis is an attempt to supply that deficiency. It is based upon an analysis of 9000 consecutive cases encountered in an office practice, in a community of 107,000 persons in the South-west, during the years 1946-1955. The material has been analyzed according to age, regional distribution of diseases, principal complaints (as the patients regard them), the frequency of these complaints, and their location in relation to the anatomic location of the causative