An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients
Abstract Background Tracheostomy, as an aerosol-generating procedure, is considered as a high-risk surgery for health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Current recommendations are to perform tracheostomy after a period of intubation of > 14 days, with two con...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40463-021-00494-1 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832568822621536256 |
|---|---|
| author | Kai Xu Xin-Hao Zhang Xiao-Bo Long Xiang Lu Zheng Liu |
| author_facet | Kai Xu Xin-Hao Zhang Xiao-Bo Long Xiang Lu Zheng Liu |
| author_sort | Kai Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Tracheostomy, as an aerosol-generating procedure, is considered as a high-risk surgery for health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Current recommendations are to perform tracheostomy after a period of intubation of > 14 days, with two consecutive negative throat swab tests, to lower the risk of contamination to HCWs. However, specific data for this recommendation are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate viral shedding into the environment, including HCWs, associated with bedside tracheostomy in the intensive care unit. Methods Samples obtained from the medical environment immediately after tracheostomy, including those from 19 surfaces, two air samples at 10 and 50 cm from the surgical site, and from the personal protective equipment (PPE) of the surgeon and assistant, were tested for the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in eight cases of bedside tracheostomy. We evaluated the rate of positive tests from the different samples obtained. Results Positive samples were identified in only one of the eight cases. These were obtained for the air sample at 10 cm and from the bed handrail and urine bag. There were no positive test results from the PPE samples. The patient with positive samples had undergone early tracheostomy, at 9 days after intubation, due to a comorbidity. Conclusions Our preliminary results indicate that delayed tracheostomy, after an extended period of endotracheal intubation, might be a considerably less contagious procedure than early tracheostomy (defined as < 14 days after intubation). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0e914e9162094390a2d782814647e6b4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1916-0216 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery |
| spelling | doaj-art-0e914e9162094390a2d782814647e6b42025-02-03T00:22:58ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery1916-02162021-01-015011510.1186/s40463-021-00494-1An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patientsKai Xu0Xin-Hao Zhang1Xiao-Bo Long2Xiang Lu3Zheng Liu4Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyAbstract Background Tracheostomy, as an aerosol-generating procedure, is considered as a high-risk surgery for health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Current recommendations are to perform tracheostomy after a period of intubation of > 14 days, with two consecutive negative throat swab tests, to lower the risk of contamination to HCWs. However, specific data for this recommendation are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate viral shedding into the environment, including HCWs, associated with bedside tracheostomy in the intensive care unit. Methods Samples obtained from the medical environment immediately after tracheostomy, including those from 19 surfaces, two air samples at 10 and 50 cm from the surgical site, and from the personal protective equipment (PPE) of the surgeon and assistant, were tested for the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in eight cases of bedside tracheostomy. We evaluated the rate of positive tests from the different samples obtained. Results Positive samples were identified in only one of the eight cases. These were obtained for the air sample at 10 cm and from the bed handrail and urine bag. There were no positive test results from the PPE samples. The patient with positive samples had undergone early tracheostomy, at 9 days after intubation, due to a comorbidity. Conclusions Our preliminary results indicate that delayed tracheostomy, after an extended period of endotracheal intubation, might be a considerably less contagious procedure than early tracheostomy (defined as < 14 days after intubation).https://doi.org/10.1186/s40463-021-00494-1COVID-19SARS-CoV-2TracheostomyViral shedding |
| spellingShingle | Kai Xu Xin-Hao Zhang Xiao-Bo Long Xiang Lu Zheng Liu An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Tracheostomy Viral shedding |
| title | An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients |
| title_full | An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients |
| title_fullStr | An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients |
| title_short | An environmental study of tracheostomy on eight COVID-19 patients |
| title_sort | environmental study of tracheostomy on eight covid 19 patients |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Tracheostomy Viral shedding |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40463-021-00494-1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kaixu anenvironmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT xinhaozhang anenvironmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT xiaobolong anenvironmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT xianglu anenvironmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT zhengliu anenvironmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT kaixu environmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT xinhaozhang environmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT xiaobolong environmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT xianglu environmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients AT zhengliu environmentalstudyoftracheostomyoneightcovid19patients |