HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC INFLUENCED THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WITH CERVICOFACIAL INFECTIONS? A SINGLE CENTRE STUDY

Abstract

Objectives The aim of the present study was to assess whether the current COVID-19 pandemic affect the prevalence of patients with cervicofacial infections in a major tertiary hospital in Greece. Materials and Methods A retrospective comparative study was performed, assessing the hospitalization of patients with cervicofacial infections in a university-affiliated Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Patients were recorded in two periods, the COVID period, from March 2020 to February 2021, and the pre-COVID period, from March 2019 to February 2020. All patients admitted with any form of cervicofacial infection during these periods were included in the study. Results In total, 341 patients were recorded. Of those, 151 were admitted in the pre-COVID period and 190 in the COVID period (P=0,03). The mean age was 45.3 years in total. A slight male predominance was observed (54.7% males). Mean length of stay was 3.42 days in the COVID period, whereas it as 2.5 in the pre-COVID period. 23 patients had severe deep neck infections the COVID period, requiring admittance to the intensive care unit, compared to the 3 patients in the previous period (P<0,001). Conclusions The high surge of patients with cervicofacial infections with increased severity during the COVID period is merely attributed to the inability of these patients to attend primary care facilities and prevent the infections in an initial stage in order to minimize hospitalizations.