Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Jan;166(1):93-100. doi: 10.1177/01945998211004544. Epub 2021 Mar 30.
The study aimed to assess the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on head and neck oncologic care at a tertiary care facility.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted between March 18, 2020, and May 20, 2020. The primary planned outcome was the rate of treatment modifications during the study period. Secondary outcome measures were tumor conference volume, operative volume, and outpatient patient procedure and clinic volumes.
This single-center study was conducted at a tertiary care academic hospital in a large metropolitan area.
The study included a consecutive sample of adult subjects who were presented at a head and neck interdepartmental tumor conference during the study period. Patients were compared to historical controls based on review of operative data, outpatient procedures, and clinic volumes.
In total, 117 patients were presented during the review period in 2020, compared to 69 in 2019. There was an 8.4% treatment modification rate among cases presented at the tumor conference. There was a 61.3% (347 from 898) reduction in outpatient clinic visits and a 63.4% (84 from 230) reduction in procedural volume compared to the prior year. Similarly, the operative volume decreased by 27.0% (224 from 307) compared to the previous year.
Restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in limited treatment modifications. Transition to virtual tumor board format observed an increase in case presentations. While there were reductions in operative volume, there was a larger proportion of surgical cases for malignancy, reflecting the prioritization of oncologic care during the pandemic.
本研究旨在评估 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行对三级保健机构头颈部肿瘤治疗的影响。
这是一项在 2020 年 3 月 18 日至 5 月 20 日期间进行的横断面研究。主要计划结果是研究期间治疗方案修改的比例。次要结局指标为肿瘤会议量、手术量以及门诊患者手术和就诊量。
这项单中心研究在大城市的一家三级保健学术医院进行。
研究纳入了在研究期间参加头颈部多学科肿瘤会议的成年患者连续样本。通过回顾手术数据、门诊手术和门诊就诊量，将患者与历史对照进行比较。
在审查期间，2020 年共介绍了 117 例患者，而 2019 年为 69 例。在肿瘤会议上介绍的病例中，有 8.4%的治疗方案发生了改变。与前一年相比，门诊就诊量减少了 61.3%（347 例来自 898 例），手术量减少了 63.4%（84 例来自 230 例）。同样，与前一年相比，手术量减少了 27.0%（224 例来自 307 例）。
与 COVID-19 大流行相关的限制导致治疗方案的修改有限。虚拟肿瘤委员会形式的转变观察到病例介绍的增加。虽然手术量有所减少，但恶性肿瘤的手术病例比例更高，反映了大流行期间对肿瘤治疗的重视。
