The Auxiliary Report Book: A glimpse of surgical activity in a pediatric ENT department in Paris in the 1920s

Eur Ann Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Dis. 2024 Oct 9:S1879-7296(24)00129-7. doi: 10.1016/j.anorl.2024.09.007. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

A report book unearthed in our archives contained 352 operative reports from the otorhinolaryngology department of the Armand-Trousseau Children's Hospital in Paris, dated from January 1912 to August 1920. These documents provide a snapshot of surgical activity in this field at the time. Mastoidectomy for mastoiditis was by far the most common procedure. This incomplete but original snapshot bears witness to the habits and working conditions of our predecessors, as well as to the progress made in just over a century.

Keywords: Children; ENT; History; Mastoiditis; Paris.