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General Medical Practitioners’ Preferences in Referring Patients with Head and Neck Disorders; A Cross-Sectional Evaluative Study in Greece

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Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) is among the newest established medical specialties and its full scope is not fully known by other specialties. The aim of the present study is to record the perception of OMFS scope by general medical practitioners (GMPs) of the National Health Service in Greece. A cross-sectional study was conducted in GMPs via a structured questionnaire. Questions involved various head and neck disorders and possible referring medical specialties. 66 answered questionnaires were included in this study. Participants were established to regional health practices, health centres or hospitals. 77.2% of the participants would refer a facial laceration to a plastic surgeon and only 7.2% to an OMFS. 89.3% would refer a zygoma fracture to an OMFS and 10.6% to an ENT. The vast majority would refer a tongue cancer, a neck mass and a mouth lesion to an ENT (74.8%, 81.8%, and 48% respectively). OMFS scope awareness of GMPs can be considered low. Thus, widening the knowledge of OMFS practice in primary grade medical practitioners is of high importance. Early exposure of medical students to the specialty could be a valid option to achieve this target.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Specialized Cancer Treatment and Reconstruction Center, General Hospital “George Papanikolaou”, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Dimitris Tatsis, Theodoros Grivas, Asterios Antoniou & Athanassios Kyrgidis

  2. Former Head of Chrysoupoli Health Centre, Former Director of GMP Training in ELEGEIA GMP Society, Chrysoupoli, Kavala, Greece

    Stella Argyriadou

Authors
  1. Dimitris Tatsis
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  2. Theodoros Grivas
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  3. Asterios Antoniou
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  4. Stella Argyriadou
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  5. Athanassios Kyrgidis
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Correspondence to Dimitris Tatsis.

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Tatsis, D., Grivas, T., Antoniou, A. et al. General Medical Practitioners’ Preferences in Referring Patients with Head and Neck Disorders; A Cross-Sectional Evaluative Study in Greece. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 74 (Suppl 3), 5668–5674 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-02991-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-021-02991-1

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