Abstract

Introduction: Corona- contagion Disease 2019 (COVID- 19) has had a huge impact on the delivery of healthcare worldwide, particularly optional surgery. There's a lack of data regarding threat of postoperative COVID- 19 infection in children witnessing optional surgery, and regarding the mileage of pre-operative COVID- 19 testing, and preoperative “cocooning” or restriction of movements. The purpose of this present study was to examine the safety of optional paediatric Otolaryngology surgery during the COVID- 19 epidemic with respect to prevalence of postoperative characteristic COVID- 19 infection or major respiratory complications.

Materials and method: Prospective cohort study of paediatric cases witnessing optional Otolaryngology surgery between September and December 2020. Primary outgrowth measure was prevalence of characteristic COVID- 19 or major respiratory complications within the 14 days after surgery. Parents of prospectively enrolled cases were communicated 14 days after surgery and enquiry made regarding development of postoperative symptoms, COVID- 19 testing, or opinion of COVID- 19.

Results: 302 cases were signed. 125 (41.4) passed preoperative COVID- 19 RT- PCR testing. Confined movements previous to surgery. The peak 14- day COVID- 19 prevalence during the study was302.9 cases per, populations. No COVID- 19 infections or major respiratory complications were reported in the 14 day follow- up period.

Conclusion: The results of our study support the safety of optional paediatric Otolaryngology surgery during the epidemic, in the setting of community prevalence not exceeding that observed during the study period.