Does the Lockdown Influence the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service in a Level 1 Trauma Hospital During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

ABSTRACT: The pandemic status of the Novel Coronavirus 2019 has affected many countries around the world, due to the high virulence of the SARS-CoV-2, the recommended protocol to prevent infection is social isolation. The purpose of this study was to compare the number of patients admitted and their epidemiological data on a Level 1 Trauma Hospital after the declaration of the pandemic status and the first week of mandatory lockdown, with the same period of time in the last year. This was a retrospective study of medical records from the patients admitted in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the João XXIII Hospital, between the March 24 and March 31 of 2020 and the same period of the last year. There was a 52.27% decrease in the total number of patients and 76.34% decrease in the total consultations of the service of oral and maxillofacial surgery during the lockdown. All the groups presented a decrease in significance with motor vehicle accidents events, the group 11 to 20 years old presented an increase on the correlation with violence (P = 0.019) and falls (P = 0.002). When comparing both sex with the etiologies, the male one presented an increase in the correlation with violence and falls. The female sex presented correlations only with the minor causes. No valid significance was observed when comparing females with violence events. The lockdown is an effective way to reduce the transmission of the COVID-19, the hospital usage and occupation.

What Do We Know About COVID-19?: Maxillofacial Surgeons Survey.

Coronavírus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus of mass dissemination, with an impact on international public health, leading to hospitalizations and death. The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, fatigue, dry cough; however, myalgia and dyspnea and the transmission routes include direct transmission by cough, sneeze, droplet inhalation, or contact transmission with the oral, nasal, or eye mucous membranes. The dental professionals are the main risk group to COVID-19 due to the transmission routes that are directly related to the dental practice. In addition, the oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMFS) are even more exposed, due to increased contact with the population in hospitals and emergency services. OMFS should be able to identify a suspected case of COVID-19, its symptoms, risk groups, disease severity, laboratorial and computed tomography alterations, and treatment guidelines. In the present study, the authors performed a nationwide survey with Brazilian OMFS to evaluate the knowledge of these professionals about the pandemic status of the COVID-19. A total of 142 OMFS replied the survey and the results brings light to an incomparable health public problem that the OMFS in Brazil are no able to protect itself, diagnose the suspicious and probable cases, request and interpret the correct laboratorial examinations for the treatment of the COVID-19 patients.