코로나바이러스감염증-19 진단을 위한 비인강 면봉 신속항원검사 이후 발생한 안면부 통증

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal swabs are commonly performed in the medical field and have recently beenused regularly for coronavirus disease 2019 diagnostic testing. Recently, a patient visited ourclinic due to left facial pain, which developed immediately after receiving a nasopharyngealswabbing and has been persistent for four months. A sinonasal endoscopic examination andparanasal (PNS) CT scan were performed to evaluate the abnormalities in the sinonasal cavi-ty. We identified a severe septal deviation, which had come into contact with the medial mu-cosa of the left inferior turbinate, forming a mucosal contact point suggesting a previous trau-ma due to the nasopharyngeal swabbing. We suspected that blind nasopharyngeal swabbinginduced mucosal damage on the previously deviated septum, causing a mucosal contact point.Additionally, we suggest that healthcare workers be educated on facial pain as one of the na-sopharyngeal swab-related complications.