- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Cost-effective nasolaryngoscopy hood helps reduce COVID-19 exposure in ENT practice
The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to cause dramatic shifts in the practice of otolaryngology. Even with standard precautions such as physical distancing and wearing personal protective equipment, aerosol-generating procedures such as nasolaryngoscopy (a commonly performed in-office procedure in which a soft, flexible fiber-scope is passed through the nose and into the throat) and intranasal instrumentation were determined to carry a risk of potential transmission if not adequately protected.
In an effort to mitigate exposure to these airborne particles, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) designed and tested a prototype nasolaryngoscopy hood, worn by the patient that offers safe and effective protection in reducing aerosols exposures.
In order to test the efficacy of the hood, a particle counter was used to calculate the average number of 0.3-mm particles/L detected during various clinical scenarios that included sneezing, nasolaryngoscopy, sneezing during nasolaryngoscopy and topical lidocaine spray administration. Experiments were repeated to compare the effectiveness of the hood versus no protection.
When no patient barrier (hood or mask) was used, a significant increase in aerosols was detected during sneezing, sneezing during nasolaryngoscopy and topical spray administration. With the hood was in place, the level of aerosols returned to baseline levels in each scenario.
"This simple intervention allows patients to undergo routine flexible nasal laryngoscopy, even with topical lidocaine spray administration, with less risk to the provider," explained corresponding author Christopher Brook, MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology -- head and neck surgery at BUSM. "If a patient begins to sneeze during the examination, our data suggest that providers will remain protected through the use of the hood," he added.
While this study evaluated the efficacy of the hood in the setting of a routine nasolaryngoscopy in reducing aerosol spread, there are other possible applications but also one major barrier to overcome. "For clinical use, either the hood would need to be mass produced to allow for single use, or a safe and effective protocol of cleaning and reusing each hood would need to be established," said Brook who also is an otolaryngologist at Boston Medical Center.
Hina Zahid Joined Medical Dialogue in 2017 with a passion to work as a Reporter. She coordinates with various national and international journals and association and covers all the stories related to Medical guidelines, Medical Journals, rare medical surgeries as well as all the updates in the medical field. Email:Â editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751