Objective: To determine the presence of airway stenosis in patients with COVID-19 who were intubated. 2. To compare outcomes to patients intubated for non-COVID-19 related indications during the same time period.
Method: After IRB approval was obtained, a prospective cohort study with a planned chart review from February 2020 to February 2021 was performed. Patients over 18 years of age diagnosed with COVID-19 who underwent endotracheal intubation at our institution were included. A matched group of patients who were intubated during the same time period but did not have COVID-19 served as a control group. Patients under the age of 18 or over the age of 88, those who underwent emergent cricothyrotomy/tracheotomy, and patients who had a preexisting history of laryngeal or tracheal stenosis were excluded. Outcome variables included: airway symptoms, radiographic evidence of airway stenosis. Cohort descriptive statistics were analyzed Chi-squared and unpaired 2 tailed T-test analyses for cohort comparison; p <0.05 was deemed statistically significant.
Results: A total of 260 patients met inclusion criteria: 110 COVID positive and 150 COVID negative. 183 patients (70.3%)had post-extubation computed tomography, 96 COVID positive, 87 COVID negative. None (0%) of the COVID+ patients developed symptomatic nor radiographic evidence of airway stenosis. Two patients (1.3%) in the COVID negative group developed airway stenosis. The difference was not statistically significant (p=0.509)
Conclusion: Patients with COVID 19 infection were not at an increased risk for intubation-related airway stenosis as compared to those without COVID 19 who were intubated during the same time period.