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.