Transmission risk of COVID-19 infection with office-based flexible laryngoscopy.
Am J Otolaryngol
; 44(3): 103816, 2023.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2286341
ABSTRACT
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, recommendations to ensure safety in clinical practice have fluctuated. Within the Otolaryngology community, a variety of protocols have emerged to assure safety for both patients and healthcare workers while maintaining standard of care practices, especially surrounding aerosolizing in-office procedures. OBJECTIVES:
This study aims to describe our Otolaryngology Department's Personal Protective Equipment protocol for both patients and providers during office laryngoscopy and to identify the risk of contracting COVID-19 after implementation of the protocol.METHODS:
18,953 office visits divided between 2019 and 2020 where laryngoscopy was performed were examined and compared to the rate of COVID-19 contraction for both office staff and patients within a 14 day period after the encounter. Of these visits, two cases were examined and discussed; where a patient tested positive for COVID-19 ten days after office laryngoscopy, and one where a patient tested positive for COVID-19 ten days prior to office laryngoscopy.RESULTS:
In the year 2020, 8337 office laryngoscopies were performed, 100 patients tested positive within the year 2020, with only these 2 cases of COVID-19 infections occurring within 14 days prior to or after their office visit.CONCLUSION:
These data suggest that using CDC-compliant protocol for aerosolizing procedures, such as office laryngoscopy, can provide a safe and effective method for mitigating infectious risk while providing timely quality care for the otolaryngology patient. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3 LAYSUMMARY:
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, ENTs have had to balance providing care while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission with routine office procedures such as flexible laryngoscopy. In this large chart review, we show that the risk of transmission is low with CDC-compliant protective equipment and cleaning protocols.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Otolaryngology
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Am J Otolaryngol
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
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