"Children don't keep us from more important things - they are the most important thing."
The treatment of our youngest and smallest patients has always been a special concern of ours. Our clinic has been providing ENT medical care for children and adolescents in Ulm and far beyond for almost 50 years. The quality and safety of treatment is guaranteed by the large number of patients: We are available to children and adolescents as well as their parents for all medical concerns around the clock with our 24-hour emergency service to provide advice and assistance. As a maximum care university centre, we offer a broad spectrum of highly specialised medicine and can look back on many years of experience in dealing with and treating paediatric patients. Our range of services covers the entire spectrum of conservative and surgical ENT paediatrics. We specialise in the detection and treatment of paediatric ear, nose and throat diseases in accordance with the latest scientific findings and guidelines.
Among other things we offer
- Hearing diagnostics from infancy/clarification of hearing disorders
- Clarification of speech development delays, speech and language disorders
- Childhood snoring/childhood sleep apnoea and carrying out the necessary surgical procedures
- Correction of protruding auricles/reconstructive surgery
- Middle and inner ear surgery
- Treatment with implantable hearing aids (middle and inner ear implants, bone conduction hearing aids)
- Soft tissue surgery
- Sinus surgery for cystic fibrosis patients
- Allergy diagnostics
General information
Children are not small adults, but are patients in their own right. We are aware of this great responsibility. The treatment of infants, children and adolescents is a particularly demanding and important task due to the different nature of the organism compared to adults on the one hand and the particular challenge of communicating with young patients on the other. This fact must be taken into account in the treatment of paediatric patients.
Our entire team endeavours to create a child-, adolescent- and family-friendly environment in order to ensure optimal therapy in a trusting and pleasant environment. All medical staff are trained in dealing with children from the start of their training. It is very important to us to involve the children concerned in the decision-making process. Taking age and cognitive development into account, we take the time to translate the necessary measures and treatment plans into simple language that children can understand.
In close cooperation with our section for phoniatrics/paediatric audiology as well as the University Children's Hospital and the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, we can offer you state-of-the-art diagnostics and guideline-based therapies. In the case of surgical procedures, we have specially trained anaesthetists with many years of expertise in the gentle administration of paediatric anaesthesia.
If your child has a specific ear, nose and throat complaint or illness, an appointment can be made on any day of the week in our outpatient clinic (0731-500 59570). We always try to keep waiting times for children as short as possible, and children are given absolute priority treatment at our clinic.
In an initial consultation, we determine the complaints and problems in the ear, nose and throat area and carry out a specific physical examination. We pay particular attention to establishing a basis of trust with the child without making them feel "taken by surprise". We then decide which further examinations are required.
In our diagnostics department, the necessary examinations are carried out quickly and in a problem-orientated manner by specially trained, child-friendly staff. Among other things, the following diagnostic options can be utilised:
- Objective and subjective hearing tests for all age groups
- Examination of eardrum mobility
- Examinations of the functionality of the auditory nerve and the associated brain regions
- Ultrasound of the soft tissues of the neck
- Dizziness tests/testing of the sense of balance
- Smell and taste test
Following the diagnostic examinations, the attending doctor will discuss the results with you as parents and your child and suggest a suitable therapeutic procedure. If an operation is necessary, a medical consultation will take place on the same day and you will be given an operation date and an appointment in the anaesthesia outpatient department according to your wishes. Your paediatrician will be informed promptly in the form of a full medical report about the procedure discussed.
Surgical interventions in children
The majority of paediatric head and neck disorders can be successfully treated conservatively, i.e. without surgery. In some cases, however, if medication or other therapies have not led to the desired success, surgical treatment is unavoidable. Many operations in the head and neck area, such as the removal of pharyngeal tonsils (adenoids), the insertion of placeholders in the eardrums ("tympanostomy tubes") or auricle corrections, can nowadays be carried out on a day-case basis - in these cases you can take your child home on the same day as the operation. Certain procedures require an inpatient stay, usually at short notice. For children older than six years, beds are available in the ENT clinic, and for children younger than six years or children with concomitant illnesses, beds are available at our cooperation partners in the paediatric clinic and paediatric surgery, which we can provide on request. As a maximum-care hospital, we have great expertise in the treatment of critically ill children, children with coagulation disorders or malformations who require interdisciplinary and comprehensive care. The close cooperation with our team of experienced anaesthetists ensures that paediatric anaesthesia is carried out gently and safely. In most cases, a parent can be admitted as an inpatient without any problems. Our team of doctors will be happy to explain the exact procedure to you in a detailed discussion. We will take time to listen to your concerns and endeavour to meet your child's individual needs.
Hearing disorders in children
If you or your paediatrician suspect that your child is not hearing well, a sound hearing diagnosis forms the basis for early help. This is already possible in the first few days after birth. Only a child who can hear well can also learn language to a normal extent. In our paediatric audiology section, diagnostics of the highest technical and current standard can be offered in the event of unclear hearing and a possible hearing disorder can be reliably diagnosed and usually assigned to the corresponding anatomical structures of the auditory organ (conductive or sensorineural hearing loss). Any necessary hearing aid fitting is then initiated.In a special hearing aid consultation for children, hearing aids are checked, hearing language education and counselling on kindergarten and school issues are provided and initiated. We are also happy to provide information and advice on technical aids (cochlear implants, bone-anchored and partially or fully implantable hearing aids) in our hearing and CI consultation hours (every Wednesday, 11:00-15:00).
Co-operation partner
We work closely with all specialist disciplines at the university hospital (including the paediatric clinic, paediatric neurosurgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, the eye clinic, urology and paediatric surgery) to provide comprehensive interdisciplinary care.
