European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
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Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol · May 2021
ReviewCOVID-19 and ENT surgery: a brief review of essential precautions and triage.
This study is a brief review of the existing knowledge on the ENT surgeon's approach towards management of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is being recommended to carry out only the emergent procedures and to postpone the non-urgent ones to a later date, this article is meant to provide an insight into triage of the ENT procedures and the various precautions to be taken into account by the ENT surgeons while carrying out a procedure during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ A proper knowledge of triage would be of immense help to the ENT surgeon in minimizing the exposure to health care workers and patients during this pandemic. All patients with an unknown COVID-19 status should be considered suspects and essential precautions for their management be taken accordingly.
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Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol · May 2021
Observational StudyTracheostomy, ventilatory wean, and decannulation in COVID-19 patients.
COVID-19 patients requiring mechanical ventilation can overwhelm existing bed capacity. We aimed to better understand the factors that influence the trajectory of tracheostomy care in this population to facilitate capacity planning and improve outcomes. ⋯ Higher FiO2 at tracheostomy and higher pre-tracheostomy peak cough flow are associated with increased delay in COVID-19 tracheostomy patient decannulation. These finding comprise the most comprehensive report of COVID-19 tracheostomy decannulation to date and will assist service planning for future peaks of this pandemic.
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Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol · May 2021
Observational StudyOutcome of 1890 tracheostomies for critical COVID-19 patients: a national cohort study in Spain.
The question of an optimal strategy and outcomes in COVID-19 tracheostomy has not been answered yet. The critical focus in our case study is to evaluate the outcomes of tracheostomy on intubated COVID-19 patients. ⋯ To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest cohort of COVID-19 patients undergoing tracheostomy. The critical focus is the unprecedented amount of tracheostomies: 1890 in 7 weeks. Weaning could be achieved in over half of the patients with follow-up. Almost one out of four tracheotomized patients died from COVID-19.