Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Otolaryngology Surgery in Italy: The Experience of Our University Hospital

Otolaryngology and head and neck surgery underwent drastic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 10, the first day of the lockdown in Italy, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were limited to emergency and oncology cases, while outpatient procedures and clinical examinations were temp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inOtolaryngology-head and neck surgery Vol. 163; no. 1; p. 86
Main Authors Ralli, Massimo, Minni, Antonio, Candelori, Francesca, Cialente, Fabrizio, Greco, Antonio, de Vincentiis, Marco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.07.2020
Subjects
Betacoronavirus
Coronavirus Infections - complications
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - transmission
COVID-19
Disease Transmission, Infectious - prevention & control
Head and Neck Neoplasms - complications
Head and Neck Neoplasms - surgery
Hospitals, University
Humans
Italy
Otolaryngology - organization & administration
Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures - trends
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - complications
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral - transmission
SARS-CoV-2
Italy
COVID-19
head and neck surgery
SARS-CoV-2
otolaryngology
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Summary:Otolaryngology and head and neck surgery underwent drastic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 10, the first day of the lockdown in Italy, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were limited to emergency and oncology cases, while outpatient procedures and clinical examinations were temporarily suspended to limit virus diffusion and to reallocate personnel into wards dedicated to COVID-19. In our otolaryngology unit, between March 10 and April 28, 2020, we performed 96 surgical procedures; they mainly consisted in diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors of the head and neck (77%), management of acute upper airway obstruction in adults and children (14.7%), drainage of abscesses of the head and neck (6.2%), and treatment of nasal bone fractures (2.1%). When comparing these data with those of the same period in 2019 for emergency and oncology procedures, we noticed a drastic reduction of head and neck abscesses and nasal bone fractures, while oncology surgery remained stable.
ISSN:1097-6817
DOI:10.1177/0194599820928970