Outpatient activity
Overall, 568 patients were seen in our clinic over the 7-week period of
lockdown (table 1). An average of 49 patients were admitted per day.
Most (n=529, 93.3%) patients were ambulatory and came from the
neighbourhood. More than half (n=306, 53.9%) of the patients had no
recent ENT history. Twenty-two percent (n=126) patients were diagnosed
with head and neck cancer before lockdown. The majority of patients were
seen within normal working hours (n=55, 98.2%) and Wednesday was the
busiest day of the week. One third of patients presented without
appointment (n=206, 36.3%). Two thirds of patients were referred by an
ENT surgeon, either an ENT surgeon from another hospital or private
practice, or as part of the follow’up by our ENT team. Almost forty
percent patients (n=225, 39.6%) underwent a minor ENT procedure, mainly
post-operative care, but also ear suction, epistaxis management,
immunotherapy, foreign body removal, biopsy, abscess puncture,
tracheostomy care, nasogastric tube insertion and Semont maneuver for
paroxysmal positional vertigo. More than a quarter of admissions (n=157,
27.6%) resulted in no specific ENT treatment. One fifth of patients
(n=117, 20.6%) required ambulatory treatment. Seven patients required
admission to the ward (n=7, 1.2%), mostly for intraveinous antibiotic.
Sixty-two patients required surgical treatment (n=62, 10.9%), mainly
head and neck cancer cases.