Introduction
The rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide raised concerns about its heavy impact on the health care delivery system and forced significant changes in the realities of the clinical practice we are accustomed to. With these changes comes a need for a different approach to outpatient evaluation of common otolaryngology complaints in patients with new symptoms.
Recently published set of guidelines for evaluation of head and neck during the COVID-19 pandemic recommended to postpone the management of benign disease including benign salivary or thyroid gland disease.1 In order to limit the chance of COVID-19 infection among patients or health care workers, surveying patients via telephone or telemedicine visit was advised, reserving in-person evaluation for the patients at risk for significant negative outcomes. The challenge is that these measures can only be applied in clear-cut clinical scenarios, when the disease process is most likely benign and the care delivery can be postponed.
In cases with a high degree of uncertainty based on available clinical information, many physicians will have to decide how to proceed after initial telemedicine encounter. Clinicians will have to consider how to balance a potential delay in diagnosis, including cancer diagnosis, against the risk of COVID-19 exposure, and may need to exercise their best judgement knowing that for head and neck cancer the risk of progression with cancer care delay is high.2 In this communication, we present our approach to triaging and evaluation of patients with complaints concerning for salivary gland disease.