Otolaryngology Oral Board Practice Cases by Domain

Cholesteatoma in a single hearing ear

Balance disease control, hearing preservation, imaging, approach, facial and labyrinth risk, staged reconstruction, and surveillance.

Sudden facial paralysis after ear surgery

Define timing and completeness, examine, review intraoperative events, image when appropriate, protect the eye, and choose exploration or observation.

Cochlear implant candidate with abnormal anatomy

Integrate hearing history, imaging, candidacy, counseling, device and approach, facial-nerve risk, insertion strategy, and activation plan.

Lateral skull-base lesion with CSF leak

Discuss imaging, hearing and cranial nerves, team planning, approach, vascular risk, closure, intracranial-pressure considerations, and postoperative leak or meningitis.

Invasive sinus process with orbital findings

Differentiate infection, inflammatory disease, and malignancy; protect vision, obtain tissue safely, treat sepsis, and coordinate decompression or resection.

Recurrent epistaxis on anticoagulation

Resuscitate, reverse when appropriate, localize the source, choose packing or procedural control, and plan monitoring.

Bilateral vocal-fold immobility after thyroid surgery

Stabilize the airway, confirm motion, distinguish injury from edema, choose temporizing and definitive airway strategies, and discuss prognosis.

Subglottic stenosis with progressive stridor

Assess severity and physiology, choose awake versus controlled airway, endoscopic versus open treatment, and rescue access.

HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer

Confirm diagnosis and stage, compare surgical and nonsurgical strategies, address the neck, functional outcomes, pathology, adjuvant criteria, and surveillance.

Recurrent laryngeal cancer after radiation

Assess airway, resectability, metastasis, salvage options, reconstruction, fistula and vessel risk, nutrition, rehabilitation, and goals.

Indeterminate thyroid nodule with compressive symptoms

Integrate ultrasound, cytology or molecular data, voice, extent of surgery, nerve and parathyroid plan, and pathology-driven next steps.

Parotid mass with facial weakness

Treat weakness as a high-risk signal, image, plan tissue diagnosis safely, stage, counsel nerve sacrifice or reconstruction, manage the neck, and plan adjuvant therapy.

Post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage in a child

Prioritize airway contamination, blood loss, access, resuscitation, anesthetic risk, operative control, and observation.

Neonatal airway obstruction

Coordinate neonatal and pediatric airway expertise, maintain spontaneous ventilation when appropriate, define level of obstruction, and plan endoscopic and surgical rescue.

Complex facial laceration with nerve injury

Assess associated trauma, repair timing, nerve and duct injury, layered reconstruction, scar strategy, and functional follow-up.

Obstructive sleep apnea after failed first-line surgery

Reassess anatomy and physiology, review prior treatment, choose targeted evaluation, discuss nonsurgical and surgical options, and set realistic outcomes.

Deep-neck infection with septic deterioration

Secure the airway, resuscitate, start antimicrobial therapy, image only if stable, drain and debride, evaluate mediastinal spread, and plan serial reassessment.