AI Article Synopsis
- Pediatric emergency admissions drastically decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading researchers to examine the impact on severe infectious conditions treated by otolaryngology.
- A retrospective review of charts revealed a significant reduction in cases from 93 pre-pandemic to 28 during the early pandemic, with fewer cases of deep neck space abscesses and mastoiditis during the latter period.
- Despite a younger patient demographic in the early pandemic group and higher inflammatory markers at presentation, no notable differences in gender, length of stay, or delay from symptom onset were observed.
Article Abstract
Background: Pediatric emergency admissions fell significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated the changes in severe infectious complications managed by otolaryngology between the pre-pandemic period and the first year of the pandemic to determine if COVID-19 or related public health measures influenced the rate or severity of presentations managed in otolaryngology.
Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on pediatric patients who presented with severe infectious otolaryngology presentations (acute mastoiditis, deep neck space abscesses, and orbital complications of sinusitis) over the pre-pandemic (March 2018-February 2020) and early pandemic (March 2020-February 2021) periods. Patient characteristics, details of presentation, treatment, and outcomes were extracted from patients' charts. Independent samples t-tests/Mann-Whitney U-tests for continuous variables and Pearson chi-squared tests/Fisher's exact test for categorical variables were conducted to compare the pre vs early pandemic groups.
Results: There were 93 pre-pandemic and 28 early pandemic presentations. The monthly case average was significantly lower during the early pandemic period than the 2 years prior [3.58 (2.80) vs 2.00 (2.00), P = .045]. The average monthly frequency of presentations for deep neck space abscess and mastoiditis were significantly higher in the pre-pandemic group when compared to the early pandemic group [1.96 (±0.33) vs 1.33 (±0.48), P = .049; .71 (±0.26) vs 0.17 (±0.41), P = .01, respectively]. The early pandemic group was significantly younger (3.81 vs 6.04 years, P = .005), however there were no differences in gender, length of admission, and days from symptom onset to presentation between the two groups (P > .05). The early pandemic group had significantly elevated inflammatory markers on presentation [CRP, WBC, neutrophils (P = .02, P = .02, P = .04, respectively)] compared to the pre-pandemic group.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on severe infectious complications of ENT pathologies, including decreased average monthly cases during the early pandemic, younger age at presentation, and elevated inflammatory markers.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2023.111650 | DOI Listing |
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