Premium
Major head and neck reconstruction during the COVID ‐19 pandemic: The University of Pittsburgh approach
Author(s) -
Ranasinghe Viran,
Mady Leila J.,
Kim Seungwon,
Ferris Robert L.,
Duvvuri Umamaheswar,
Johnson Jonas T.,
Solari Mario G.,
Sridharan Shaum,
Kubik Mark
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.26207
Subject(s) - pandemic , covid-19 , head and neck , medicine , head and neck cancer , general surgery , surgery , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , virology , radiation therapy , outbreak
The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic has created significant challenges to the delivery of care for patients with advanced head and neck cancer requiring multimodality therapy. Performing major head and neck ablative surgery and reconstruction is a particular concern given the extended duration and aerosolizing nature of these cases. In this manuscript, we describe our surgical approach to provide timely reconstructive care and minimize infectious risk to the providers, patients, and families.