Learning from COVID-19 experience: a study amongst ENT surgeons’ COVID behaviour
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/issn.2454-5929.ijohns20211182Keywords:
Pandemic, COVID-19, Health care professional, ENT, Online surveyAbstract
Background: Health care services across the world have undergone several modifications in view of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Otolaryngology needs special mention in this context owing to its proximity to virus’s natural habitat. Various ENT procedures are significantly aerosol generating and hence appropriate precautions and procedural modifications are needed. We aimed to determine attitude and practices of ENT professionals during COVID-19 pandemic and their level of preparedness towards resuming practice, teaching and training activities.
Methods: We conducted an online survey through Google forms, participants were asked to fill up a multiple choice questionnaire. Responses collected were analysed and interpretations made on basis of most favoured options.
Results: Majority of respondents was aware of the potential risks and precautions to be taken during Outpatient and surgical procedures and was willing to adapt their clinical setups to protect themselves and their patients. Few of them wanted to follow stricter protocols like doing endoscopies for therapeutic purposes only, using a PAPR for lengthy surgeries, not allowing trainees to assist in surgeries etc.
Conclusions: We concluded that fresh guidelines are needed taking in account the opinion of government and private practitioners, with provisions for continuing training activities.
References
Søreide K, Hallet J, Matthews JB, Schnitzbauer AA, Line PD, Lai PBS et al. Immediate and long term impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on delivery of surgical services. Br J Surg. 2020.
COVID 19: Treatment guidelines. Available at: https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/critical-care/laboratory-diagnosis/
McGoogan ZWJM. Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China. Summary of a Report of 72 314 cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. J Am Med Assoc. 2020;323:1239-42
Listings of WHO’s response to COVID-19. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/29-06-2020-COVIDtimeline. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Zhou L, Yao M, Zhang X, Hu B, Li X, Chen H, et al. Breath-, air- and surface-borne SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals. J Aerosol Sci. 2020;105693.
Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: implications for infection prevention precautions. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/ detail/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-implications-for-infection-prevention-precautions. Accessed on 20 December 2020.
Durmuş H, Gökler ME, Metintaş S. The Effectiveness of Community-based Social Distancing for Mitigating the Spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey. J Prev Med Public Health Yebang Uihakhoe Chi. 2020;53(6):397–404.
ICMR: Revised Strategy of COVID19 testing in India (Version 3 & 4). Available at: https://www.icmr.gov.in/cteststrat.html. Accessed on 20 December 2020.
COVID-19 related personal protective equipment. Available at: https://esge.org/documents/Handbook _of_COVID-19_Prevention_and_Treatment.pdf. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Park SH. Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Infect Chemother. 2020.52(2):165–82.
Cook TM. Personal protective equipment during the coronavirus disease (COVID) 2019 pandemic – a narrative review. Anaesthesia. 2020;75(7):920–7.
Rational use of PPE. Available at: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/AdditionalguidelinesonrationaluseofPersonalProtectiveEquipmentsettingapproachforHealthfunctionariesworkinginnonCOVIDareas.pdf. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for extended use of N95 mask for personal safety of Health Care Workers (HCW) at AIIMS. Available at: https://www.aiims.edu/en/notices/notices.html?id=10444. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Mick P, Murphy R. Aerosol-generating otolaryngology procedures and the need for enhanced PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic: a literature review. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020;49:1-0.
Arumuru V, Pasa J, Samantaray SS. Experimental visualization of sneezing and efficacy of face masks and shields. Physic Flu. 2020;32(11):115129.
Guidance for Return to Practice for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery; AAO-HNS resource page. Available at: https://www.entnet.org/content/covid-19-resource-page. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Givi B, Schiff BA, Chinn SB, Clayburgh D, Iyer NG, Jalisi S, Moore MG, Nathan CA, Orloff LA, O’Neill JP, Parker N. Safety recommendations for evaluation and surgery of the head and neck during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Am Med Assoc. 2020.
Guidelines for safe ENT practice in COVID 19. Available at: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/ENT-COVID0306.pdf. Accessed on 10 December 2020.
Muraleedharan M, Kaur S, Arora K, Virk RS. Otolaryngology Practice in Covid 19 Era: A Road-Map to Safe Endoscopies. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020:1–3.
Setzen M, Svider PF, Pollock K. COVID-19 and rhinology: a look at the future. Am J Otolaryngol. 2020;15:102491
American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), New Recommendations Regarding Urgent and Nonurgent Patient Care, Available at: https://www.entnet.org/content/ newrecommendations-regarding-urgent-and-nonurgent-patient-care. Accessed on 20 December 2020.
Das, A., Mitra, S., Kumar, S. et al. Two-drape closed pocket technique: minimizing aerosolization in mastoid exploration during COVID-19 pandemic. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2020;277:3529–32.
Board on Health Sciences Policy; Institute of Medicine. The Use and Effectiveness of Powered Air Purifying Respirators in Health Care: Workshop Summary. National Academies Press. Washington DC; 2015.
Anagiotos A, Petrikkos G. Otolaryngology in the COVID-19 pandemic era: the impact on our clinical practice. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2020;23:1–8.
Modi P D, Nair G, Uppe A. COVID-19 Awareness Among Healthcare Students and Professionals in Mumbai Metropolitan Region: A Questionnaire-Based Survey. Cureus. 2020;12(4):e7514.
Dang A, Vallish B, Dang S. Hydroxychloroquine and Remdesivir in COVID-19: A critical analysis of recent events. Indian J Med Ethics. 2020;V(3):202-7.
Ananth L, Hosamani P. Management of ENT Surgical Emergencies Amidst COVID-19 Lockdown: Our Experience in a Tertiary Referral Hospital. Ind J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020:1-8.