Journal Article

Recommendations for head and neck surgical oncology practice in a setting of acute severe resource constraint during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international consensus

Patel, Mihir R, Yom, Sue S, Chow, Velda Ling Yu, Golusiński, Wojciech, Kerawala, Cyrus, Mehanna, Hisham, Fagan, Johannes J, Abou-Foul, Ahmad K, Holsinger, F Christopher, Rischin, Danny, Chaturvedi, Pankaj, Licitra, Lisa, de Almeida, John R, Takes, Robert P, Kuriakose, Moni A, Hosal, Sefik, Nichols, Anthonny C, Simon, Chrisian, Chan, Jason Y K, Hardman, John C, Godballe, Christian, Lai, Stephen Y, Paleri, Vinidh, Homma, Akihiro, Shenson, Jared A, Wang, Yu, Dietz, Andreas, Sanabria, Alvaro, Leemans, C Rene, Iyer, N Gopalakrishna, Koh, Yoon Woo, Konney, Anna, Thomson, David J, AlFalasi, Mohammad, Kraus, Dennis, Piazza, Cesare, Kowalski, Luiz P, Kyrodimos, Efthymios, Zhu, Yi-ming, Mirghani, Haitham, Lennon, Paul, Uppaluri, Ravindra, Porceddu, Sandro V, Parente Arias, Pablo, Topf, Michael C, Lou, Pei-Jen, Panizza, Benedict J, Lyons, Bernard

2020

Overview

The speed and scale of the global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented pressures on health services worldwide, requiring new methods of service delivery during the health crisis. In the setting of severe resource constraint and high risk of infection to patients and clinicians, there is an urgent need to identify consensus statements on head and neck surgical oncology practice. We completed a modified Delphi consensus process of three rounds with 40 international experts in head and neck cancer surgical, radiation, and medical oncology, representing 35 international professional societies and national clinical trial groups. Endorsed by 39 societies and professional bodies, these consensus practice recommendations aim to decrease inconsistency of practice, reduce uncertainty in care, and provide reassurance for clinicians worldwide for head and neck surgical oncology in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the setting of acute severe resource constraint and high risk of infection to patients and staff.

• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd,Elsevier Limited
• Subject: Agreements / Betacoronavirus / Clinical trials / Consensus / Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology / Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / Data collection / Delphi method / Disease transmission / Endorsements / Experts / Head & neck cancer / Head and Neck Neoplasms - diagnosis / Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology / Head and Neck Neoplasms - surgery / Health Care Rationing / Health surveillance / Hematology, Oncology, and Palliative Medicine / Humans / Intensive care / International Cooperation / Medical research / Nominations / Occupational Health / Oncology / Pandemics / Pandemics - prevention & control / Patient Safety / Patients / Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology / Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control / Practice Guidelines as Topic / Radiation therapy / SARS-CoV-2 / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / Surgeons / Surgical Oncology - organization & administration / Surgical Oncology - standards