Is adenotonsillectomy safe in covid-19 era? Investigation of sars-cov2 in adenoid and tonsil tissues()()

OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 has seriously altered physicians' approach to patients and diseases, with a tendency to postpone elective procedures. Tonsillectomy, alone or with adenoidectomy, is one of the most common surgeries performed by otolaryngologists. Although they are generally accepted as elective surgeries, they significantly improve the quality of life, and postponing these surgeries for a long time can have deteriorative effects on the patients. We aimed to investigate the presence of SARS CoV-2 in the adenotonsillectomy materials to find out if performing adenotonsillectomy is safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Forty-eight tissue samples from 32 patients that underwent tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy were investigated whose SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test in the samples obtained from nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) swabs were negative within 24 h before the operation. While 16 patients underwent only tonsillectomy and one of their tonsils was investigated, 16 of the patients underwent adenotonsillectomy and their adenoid tissues were sent along with one of their tonsils. SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was investigated with Real-Time PCR in tissue samples. RESULTS: Two (4.2%) tissue samples had positive PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2, while 46 of them were negative. One of the positive patients had undergone tonsillectomy with the indication of chronic recurrent tonsillitis, and the other patient had undergone adenotonsillectomy for obstructive adenotonsillar hypertrophy. PCR test was positive in the adenoidectomy specimen and negative in the tonsillectomy specimen in this patient. CONCLUSIONS: Adenotonsillectomy can be done safely in asymptomatic patients without a history of Covid-19, with a negative PCR test result obtained within the last 24 h.