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. 2022 Jun;15(2):98-103.
doi: 10.1177/19433875211015036. Epub 2021 May 5.

The Effect of COVID on Nasal Fracture Management in ENT Emergency Clinics

Keshav Kumar Gupta  1 , Vinay Kumar Gupta  2 , Ranjodh Singh Sanghera  1 , Karan Jolly  1 , Lisha McClleland  1
Affiliations

The Effect of COVID on Nasal Fracture Management in ENT Emergency Clinics

Keshav Kumar Gupta et al. Craniomaxillofac Trauma Reconstr. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Study design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Management of nasal fractures is usually in ENT emergency clinics, with our center aiming to assess patients within 10-days. During 2020, there have been numerous lockdowns and social distancing measures implemented in the UK as a result of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID). This study aimed to assess the effect of COVID on nasal fracture management in ENT emergency clinics in terms of number of patients seen, time to follow up and their management strategies.

Methods: All patients with suspected or confirmed nasal bone fractures presenting to the emergency department (ED) between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 at our major trauma center were analyzed in 2 groups depending on the year they were seen (2019 vs. 2020).

Results: There was a total of 104 patients analyzed, with 51.4% decrease in the number of patients seen in 2020 versus 2019. The mean days to follow up in 2019 was 8.09 days and 7.65 days in 2020 (P = .37). There was no statistically significant difference in the number of patients seen within the 10-day target between years (2019 = 65.7% vs. 2020 = 76.5%, P = .35). The majority of patients were managed with manipulation under anesthesia (MUA) in 2019 (n = 32, 45.7%) vs. discharge from clinic in 2020 (n = 21, 61.8%).

Conclusions: Our study shows a drastic reduction in the number of patients seen in ENT emergency clinic from 2019 to 2020. This is in-keeping with other studies that have shown a reduction in ED attendances, trauma admissions and admissions across other specialties all around the world.

Keywords: COVID; coronavirus; emergency admission; nasal fracture; nasal fracture management; trauma admission.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A graph to compare the management outcomes from ENT emergency clinics between 2019 (n = 70) and 2020 (n = 34) cohorts. The bars represent percentages, and the numbers represent the “n” value for each group. “Other” represents management not included as discharge or MUA which were referral for rhinoplasty in 2019, and admission for septal hematoma in 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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