COVID-19 Testing in the Era of Modern Neurosurgery: Mitigating Risk in Our Vulnerable Patient Populations

Abstract

Background: The respiratory illness identified as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a pandemic illness that has changed the face of healthcare. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, patients have continued to require neurosurgical interventions, and the endoscopic endonasal approach for surgery has continued to be a mainstay treatment of pituitary tumors and anterior skull base lesions.

Methods: We sought to highlight the current lack of recommendations regarding testing protocols for neurosurgical patients.

Results: We implemented a novel testing protocol for our patient populations at increased risk and have proposed a model that can be used at other institutions to mitigate the risk of complications associated with some forms of COVID-19 testing.

Conclusion: Patients with anterior skull base defects may be at risk with current COVID-19 testing protocols, and may benefit from alternative specimen collection strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cerebrospinal fluid leak; Endoscopic endonasal approach; SARS-CoV-2; Transsphenoidal.