Continuation of telemedicine in otolaryngology post-COVID-19: Applications by subspecialty

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review the literature and compile key clinically relevant applications of telemedicine for use in otolaryngology relevant to the post-COVID-19 era. Study design: Systematic Literature Review. Data sources: Pubmed and Google Scholar. Review methods: Pubmed and Google Scholar were queried using combined key words such as telemedicine, covid and otolaryngology. The searches were completed in March-August 2020. Additional queries were made with particular subspecialty phrases such as rhinology or otology to maximize yield of relevant titles. Relevant articles were selected for abstract review. Applicable abstracts were then selected for review of the full text. Results: Initial search identified 279 results. These were screened for relevance and 100 abstracts were selected for review. Abstracts were excluded if they were not in English, not related to otolaryngology, or if the full text was unavailable for access. Of these, 37 articles were selected for complete review of the full text. Conclusion: The sudden healthcare closures during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp increase in the use of telemedicine, particularly in subspecialty fields. Otolaryngologists are at a unique risk of infection resulting from the examination of the head and neck and aerosol-generating procedures due to the predilection of viral particles for the nasal cavities and pharynx. The COVID-19 pandemic may have served as a catalyst to implement telemedicine into clinical practice, however identifying ways to integrate telemedicine long term is key for a sustainable and viable practice in the post-COVID-19 era. Although many states are now finding themselves on the down-sloping side of their infection rate curve, many others remain at the apex. Additionally, the risk of future waves of this pandemic, or the onset of another pandemic, should not be overlooked. Practice modification guidelines that mitigate infection risk by utilizing telemedicine would be useful in these instances. Telemedicine can help to reduce infection spread by limiting unnecessary in-person interactions and help conserve personal protective equipment (PPE) by facilitating remote care with the added benefits of expanding care to broad geographic areas, limiting cost, time, and travel burden on patients and families, and enabling consistent follow up.

Automated summary

Telemedicine has been widely used in the post-COVID-19 era, especially in the field of otolaryngology. Otolaryngologists are at risk of infection due to examinations of the head and neck and aerosol-generating procedures, making telemedicine a valuable tool to reduce in-person interactions, lower infection risk, conserve personal protective equipment, and provide remote care with additional benefits to meet broad healthcare needs.