Surgical activity
Sixty-six surgical interventions were carried out between March 16 and
May 3, 2020 (table 2). Most patients were seen in outpatient clinic
before surgery (n=43, 65.15%), but 9 (13.64%) patients were not. Forty
(60.61%) patients had a previous history of head and neck cancer before
their pre-operative assessment. Two (3.03%) patients were hospitalized
within the month before surgery and 12 (18.18%) were already operated
once within the month before (revision) surgery. Only one patient
(1.52%) was operated outside normal working hours (bleeding after
tonsillectomy). The main surgery type was head and neck surgery (n=63,
95.45%). Seven tracheostomies were performed for prolonged mechanical
ventilation in Covid-19 positive patients. Three patients (4.55%)
underwent nose surgery (2 nose fracture mobilizations and one foreign
body removal). No otological surgery was performed during the study
period. Three patients died within the month following their surgical
intervention (mortality rate: 4.55%). Two of them had recurrent head
and neck cancer with heart and renal failure respectively. A sixty-four
year old lady died from multiple organ failure related to Covid-19
within the month following her tracheostomy.