Osteonecrosis of the jaw: surgical treatment results before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in one of the reference hospitals in Poland.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact not only on everyday life but, above all, on the functioning of medical entities. During its duration, there were problems with access to health care, including maxillofacial surgery departments. The aim of the study is to analyze how the pandemic affected the surgical results of the treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaws at the Clinic of Maxillofacial Surgery in Poznan which delivers services in maxillofacial surgery for almost 4.5 million inhabitants in Poland. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients' medical records before and during the pandemic restrictions. The data was obtained by entering the appropriate passwords and ICD-10 diagnoses (e.g., M87) in the hospital's IT system. The obtained information was subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The number of patients before and during the pandemic did not differ significantly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the waiting time of patients after admission to the hospital for surgery and the total time of hospitalization were shortened. The number of complications was similar in both groups. However, the waiting time for a follow-up visit was longer during restriction time. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the course of surgical treatment in patients with osteonecrosis of the jaws. The outcomes of the medical procedure remained consistent with the ones observed before the implementation of restrictions. This is likely due to the urgency of the illness. Despite the pandemic, a critical condition called osteonecrosis of the jaw was treated promptly.

Esophageal varices during pregnancy in the course of cirrhosis.

Esophageal variceal bleeding is one of the most severe complications that may occur during pregnancy in patients with liver cirrhosis. It may result in death of the mother and the fetus. Therefore, screening endoscopy should be performed both before the conception and in the second trimester. Endoscopic band ligation is a method of choice in case of variceal bleeding. Close cooperation of hepatologist, obstetrician-gynecologist and endoscopist is recommended in order to provide maximum care and increase the chances of successful delivery. We present a case of 28-years-old primigravida, at 27 weeks pregnant with esophageal varices and liver cirrhosis.