Impacto da pandemia COVID-19 em pacientes com carcinoma da cabeça e pescoço

Abstract

Introduction: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as pandemic, significantly impacting all public life and the global economy. Since its discovery in Wuhan, the rapid spread of the virus has led to an unprecedented public health crisis and the adoption of extreme measures to limit community and hospital spread. As a result of a confluence of extraordinary circumstances caused by this pandemic, the doctrines of treatment for patients with head and neck carcinoma had to be reanalyzed, guaranteeing the well-being of both patients and health professionals as also society itself.
Materials and Methods: This systematic review was based on the PRISMA guidelines. Thus, the bibliographic research was carried out on the following plataforms: LILACS®; PubMed®; Web of Science®, Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register®, Scielo® and Scopus®, aiming to answer the research question, considering the objective and defined criteria. Results: Initially, 837 articles were selected, which after removal of duplicates resulted in 471 articles. After reading the title and abstract, 67 articles were selected for full reading, in order to assess their eligibility. Thus, 15 articles were included. The results are heterogeneous as a result of the contemporaneity of the thematic. Conclusion: The studies included allow to unveil distinct impacts, felt in different institutions of several countries, not allowing generalizable conclusions to be drawn. Some of the variables analyzed raise concerns, namely the limitation of oncologic surgeries, reconstruction surgeries, as well as the increase in the number of patients admitted with higher TNM classifications and more advanced general stage. The results obtained show an effort so that the pandemic did not affect the care provided. The true effects will be evident as normality returns and new studies assess mortality, morbidity and general stage of patients seeking medical care.

Date of Award	23 Jul 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Patrícia Couto (Supervisor) & Tiago Marques (Co-Supervisor)