Remote triaging of urgent suspected head and neck cancer referrals: our experience during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Autor: Kaddour H; Department of Otolaryngology, Queen's Hospital, Romford, UK., Jama GM; Department of Otolaryngology, Queen's Hospital, Romford, UK. guled.jama@nhs.net., Stagnell S; Department of Oral Surgery, East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, UK., Kaddour S; Public Health England, London, UK., Guner K; Department of Otolaryngology, Queen's Hospital, Romford, UK., Kumar G; Department of Otolaryngology, Queen's Hospital, Romford, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery [Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol] 2022 Feb; Vol. 279 (2), pp. 1111-1115. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Oct 18.
DOI: 10.1007/s00405-021-07135-3
Abstrakt: Purpose: In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, otolaryngology departments across the United Kingdom have adopted non-face-to-face clinics with consultations being carried out remotely, via telephone or video calls. By reducing footfall on hospital sites, the aim of this strategy was to limit direct contact and curb the spread of infection. This report outlines our experience of conducting a telephone triage clinic in the assessment of urgent suspected head and neck cancer referrals during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: New patients who were referred on the urgent suspected head and neck cancer pathway were prospectively identified between 1 May 2020 and 31 August 2020. Patients were triaged remotely using telephone consultations. Risk stratification was performed using the 'Head and Neck Cancer Risk Calculator' (HaNC-RC v.2).
Results: Four-hundred and twelve patients were triaged remotely during the 4-month study period. Of these, 248 patients were deemed 'low risk' (60.2%), 78 were classed as 'moderate risk' (18.9%) and 86 were considered 'high risk' (20.9%) according to the HaNC-RC v.2 risk score. Twenty-four patients who were assessed during the study period were diagnosed with head and neck cancer (5.82%).
Conclusion: The use of teleconsultation, supported by a validated, symptom-based risk calculator, has the potential to provide a viable and effective adjunct in the assessment and management of new suspected head and neck cancer patients and should be considered as part of the inherent re-shaping of clinical service delivery following the ongoing pandemic.
(© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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