Methods
This is a retrospective study performed on patients subjected to total laryngectomy, who were hospitalized at the University Hospital of Modena between September 2020 and January 2021 for acute tracheitis and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Inclusion criteria were the following: patients previously subjected to total laryngectomy; patients who underwent SARS-CoV-2 status assessment by means of a combined nasal and tracheal swab (by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) and tested positive; patients who required hospitalization; patients whose diagnosis of tracheitis was confirmed by means of an otolaryngologist’s evaluation, including fiberoptic tracheoscopy or tracheo-bronchoscopy; patients whose full clinical data were available. Were excluded from the study total laryngectomy patients requiring hospitalization, who developed SARS-CoV-2 infection during their hospital stay (tested negative at admission).
Patients’ demographic, clinical and surgical information were retrospectively reviewed from clinical charts. Local Ethics Committee approval for this retrospective study was obtained on December 2020 (576/2020/OSS/AOUMO). Written informed consent to collect deidentified data was obtained from all patients. The study was conducted following the CARE guidelines.