• Marco Ferrari, Alberto Paderno, Lorenzo Giannini, Diego Cazzador, Cristina Ciardiello, Giovanni Carretta, Cesare Piazza, and Piero Nicolai.
• Section of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova, University of Padua, Padua, Italy; Unit of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Azienda Spedali Civili di Brescia, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. Electronic address: 1990marcoferrari@gmail.com.
• Oral Oncol. 2021 Jan 1; 112: 105043.

BackgroundPreoperative screening had a key role in planning elective surgical activity for head and neck cancer (HNC) during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsAll patients undergoing surgery for HNC at two Italian referral hospitals (University of Padua and National Cancer Institute [NCI]) during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy were included. Accuracy of screening protocols was assessed.ResultsIn the Padua protocol, 41 patients were screened by pharyngeal swab. The entire sample (100%) was admitted to surgery, diagnostic accuracy was 100%. In the NCI protocol, 23 patients underwent a telephone interview, blood test, and chest CT. Twenty patients (87%) were negative and were directly admitted to surgery. In the remaining 3 (13%), pharyngeal swab was performed. The screening was repeated until a negative chest CT was found. Diagnostic accuracy was 85%.ConclusionsDedicated screening protocols for COVID-19 allow to safely perform elective HNC surgery.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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