Admission during COVID-19 pandemic
Before the hospitalization, each patient underwent a pre-operative anesthesiological evaluation, consisting of global medical history collection, patient’s parameters observation including body temperature, complete blood count, ECG and chest x-ray examination or chest CT scan when it was necessary. Although asymptomatic, each patient underwent the COVID-19 RT-PCR swab test, a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, through nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) swab 9. Only in case of negative result to the COVID-19 test and confirmed eligibility for surgery at the anesthesiological evaluation, patients were admitted to the head and neck inpatient clinic. Body temperature was screened again at the entrance by the nurses, who used secondary protective measures by means of personal protective equipment (PPE) for routine patient evaluation. We defined “appropriate PPE” as the use of standard-of-care procedure-specific PPE for patients who are confirmed to be negative for COVID-19. Otherwise, in case of positive result to the COVID-19 test, the institutional guidelines stated that surgery should be performed in a dedicated operatory room and the post-operative hospitalization should continue in COVID-reserved Department. Only one visitor for patient was allowed in the time interval between 06.00 and 07.00 pm and, in any case, with due regard for safety distances and wearing PPE. The purpose of these measures was to control population flow in the department area and to reduce the number of cross-infections.