A Simple questionnaire for Virtual Follow-up of Orthognathic Surgery Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Poorna, T. Anish Joshna E. K.; John, Bobby

Abstract The outbreak of COVID -19 pandemic has affected the health care infrastructure and wellness of health care workers in several ways1. Ever since its emergence, various guidelines and protocols have been proposed to curb its spread and increase the awareness among people. As the bulk of hospital and health care resources have been diverted to manage this pandemic outbreak, elective procedures like Orthognathic surgeries have been halted. In South India, as the cases were on gradual raise post the first wave of COVID-19, immediate lock downs were announced by the Government to prevent full blown second wave of COVID-192. As the strict lock downs were prevalent and number of COVID-19 cases increased, the hospital management of our Tertiary Reference Centre decided to reduce the number of reviews and Out-Patient cases. With the majority of the areas given red alert and marked as containment zones, the number of patients reporting for follow up reduced drastically. Telemedicine has gained popularity and practice among the various aspects of Medicine especially during this pandemic due to its efficiency and cost-effectiveness3. Hence, we decided to follow up the patients who underwent orthognathic surgery and could not report for review physically, via telemedicine (Phone/video calls) with the aid of contact numbers from the hospital registry.