Introduction:The performance of tracheotomy is a common procedural request by critical care departments to the surgical services of general surgery, thoracic surgery and otolaryngology -head & neck surgery. A Canadian Society of Otolaryngology -Head & Neck Surgery (CSO-HNS) task force was convened with multi-specialty involvement from otolaryngology-head & neck surgery, general surgery, critical care and anesthesiology to develop a set of recommendations for the performance of tracheotomies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Main body: The tracheotomy procedure is highly aerosol generating and directly exposes the entire surgical team to the viral aerosol plume and secretions, thereby increasing the risk of transmission to healthcare providers. As such, we believe extended endotracheal intubation should be the standard of care for the entire duration of ventilation in the vast majority of patients. Pre-operative COVID-19 testing is highly recommended for any nonemergent procedure. Conclusion: The set of recommendations in this document highlight the importance of avoiding tracheotomy procedures in patients who are COVID-19 positive if at all possible. Recommendations for appropriate PPE and environment are made for COVID-19 positive, negative and unknown patients requiring consideration of tracheotomy. The safety of healthcare professionals who care for ill patients and who keep critical infrastructure operating is paramount.
Visfatin is down-regulated by overfeeding. Under physiologic conditions, visfatin does not appear to control glucose metabolism but may play a regulatory role in lipid metabolism.
Objective
Topical sinus irrigations play a critical role in the management of sinonasal disease, and the improvement in irrigant penetration into the sinuses postoperatively greatly contributes to the success of the endoscopic sinus surgery. Prior investigations on postoperative sinus irrigations have been mostly limited to cadaver studies, which are labor intensive, and do not capture the full dynamics of the flows. A pilot study was conducted to investigate the impact of surgery on sinus irrigation through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations.
Study Design
Retrospective computational study
Methods
Pre- and postoperative CT scans were obtained on a patient who underwent standard Endoscopic surgeries for all sinuses, including a Draf III frontal sinusotomy. CT based pre- and postoperative CFD models then simulated irrigations of 120 mL saline per nostril at 12mL/s (typical of Sinugator®) and 60mL/s (SinusRinse Bottle®), in two head positions: face parallel and at 45° angle to the ground.
Results
Overall, surgery most significantly improved frontal sinus irrigation, but surprisingly resulted in less maxillary and ethmoid sinuses penetration. This may due to the partial removal of septum during the Draf III, causing most fluid to exit pre-maturely across the resected septum. Higher flow rate slightly improved ethmoid sinus irrigation, but resulted in less contralateral maxillary sinus penetration.
Conclusions
CFD modeling of sinonasal irrigations is a novel technique for evaluating irrigant penetration of individual sinus cavities. It may prove useful in determining the optimal degree of surgery or the ideal irrigation strategy to allow for maximal and targeted sinus irrigant penetration.
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