Association News COVID-19 and anesthetic considerations for head and neck surgeries and bronchoscopic and dental procedures

Toda, Chihiro; Abdelmalak, Basem B.

After an outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, rapidly spread worldwide and has been threatening public health During this pandemic, health care providers, particularly anesthesiologists, are at increased risk of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), when they care for COVID-19 patients and/or asymptomatic carriers especially when they participate in and/or perform aerosol-generating procedures These are commonly encountered in head and neck surgeries and bronchoscopic and dental procedures This article will discuss these procedures’ characteristics and the mechanisms by which they pose increased risk to health care provider especially the anesthesiologists, and recommendations for mitigating these risks based on the current state of knowledge and experience