RESUMEN
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic probably started in China in 2019 and is influencing the whole healthcare system worldwide. As several healthcare interventions are essential even during pandemics, it is necessary for professionals working in such fields to get up-to-date information about the virus and its aspects that can influence patient care and suggested actions. The current article is a literature review, in which the authors elaborated the recently available scientific articles with their relevancy for clinical interventions as primary factor. The processed articles emphasize that during interventions in the head and neck region, especially when using rotating instruments, it is of utmost importance for all personnel being present at the time of intervention to wear full protection, including disposable medical uniforms, glasses and special masks. These single-use items have to be changed after each intervention and the whole team has to be educated for this process in advance. In order to avoid cross-contamination and infection of personnel during intervention, it is essential to keep all work-safety and infection-control precautions extremely strictly. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(17): 660666.
Asunto(s)
Infecciones por Coronavirus , Coronavirus , Infección Hospitalaria , Personal de Salud , Control de Infecciones , Transmisión de Enfermedad Infecciosa de Paciente a Profesional/prevención & control , Pandemias , Neumonía Viral , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , China , Infecciones por Coronavirus/epidemiología , Infecciones por Coronavirus/prevención & control , Infecciones por Coronavirus/transmisión , Infección Hospitalaria/prevención & control , Humanos , Hungría , Control de Infecciones/métodos , Pandemias/prevención & control , Neumonía Viral/epidemiología , Neumonía Viral/prevención & control , Neumonía Viral/transmisión , SARS-CoV-2RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: It is known that the quality of life (QoL) of patients surgically treated for head and neck cancer (HNC) is significantly enhanced by rehabilitation. It is also known that some of these patients will not quit smoking. AIM: To assess if smoking hampers rehabilitation-related QoL enhancement after surgery. METHOD: Applying the H&N 35 questionnaire of EORTC, we assessed the QoL of 38 smoking and non-smoking patients who underwent surgical therapy for HNC and subsequent rehabilitation. QoL was assessed after surgery (after the healing period) and 6 months after rehabilitation. RESULTS: While the QoL enhancement of nonsmokers was significant in almost all aspects, that of smoking patients did not reach the level of significance on a number of scales. The results suggest that smoking does not hamper rehabilitation directly, rather, it prevents rehabilitation from exerting its beneficial effects through its own effects. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking is a factor that measurably acts against the efforts to enhance the QoL of the surgically treated HNC patient. Therefore, it is essential that emphasis is put on smoking cessation right from the cancer diagnosis also for this reason. Orv. Hetil., 2017, 158(5), 172-177.