Is Early Traumatic Facial Nerve Surgery a Priority during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

 

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Abstract

As otolaryngologists are exposed to high risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, logic and evidence-based prioritization for surgeries is essential to reduce the risk of infection amongst healthcare workers. Several clinical guidelines and surgery prioritizing recommendations have been published during the COVID-19 pandemic. They recommended the surgery in the setting of immediate facial nerve paralysis within 72 hours after trauma, but none of the previous studies in the literature suggests that the optimal timing of operation should be less than 2 weeks from injury.

Author Contributions

Concept – M. F.; supervision – M. F.; resources – A. F. and M. H.; literature search – M. F., A. F., and M. H.; writing of the manuscript – M. H. and A. F.; critical review – M. F.

Publication History

Received: 21 September 2020

Accepted: 07 December 2020

Article published online:
15 March 2021

© 2021. Fundação Otorrinolaringologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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