Endonasal surgery in the coronavirus era – Birmingham experience

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 a pandemic on 11th March 2020. There is concern regarding performing endonasal surgical procedures because of a high viral load in the nasopharynx. This paper describes our experience in conducting emergency and urgent endonasal operations during the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the UK. OBJECTIVES: To show the outcome of endonasal surgery during the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and to assess the post-operative rate of nosocomial coronavirus disease 2019 infection. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of all patients who underwent high priority endoscopic nasal surgery or anterior skull base surgery between 23rd March and 15th June 2020 at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients underwent endonasal surgery during the study period, 12 were males and 12 were females. There was no coronavirus-related morbidity in any patient. CONCLUSION: This observational study found that it is possible to safely undertake urgent endonasal surgery; the nosocomial risk of coronavirus disease 2019 can be mitigated with appropriate peri-operative precautions.