Optimal insertion depth for nasal mid-turbinate and nasopharyngeal swabs
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Optimal insertion depth for nasal mid-turbinate and nasopharyngeal swabs. / Callesen, Rasmus Eið; Kiel, Cecilie Mullerup; Hovgaard, Lisette Hvid; Jakobsen, Kathrine Kronberg; Papesch, Michael; von Buchwald, Christian; Todsen, Tobias.
In: Diagnostics, Vol. 11, No. 7, 1257, 2021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Optimal insertion depth for nasal mid-turbinate and nasopharyngeal swabs
AU - Callesen, Rasmus Eið
AU - Kiel, Cecilie Mullerup
AU - Hovgaard, Lisette Hvid
AU - Jakobsen, Kathrine Kronberg
AU - Papesch, Michael
AU - von Buchwald, Christian
AU - Todsen, Tobias
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Millions of people are tested for COVID-19 daily during the pandemic, and a lack of evidence to guide optimal nasal swab testing can increase the risk of false-negative test results. This study aimed to determine the optimal insertion depth for nasal mid-turbinate and nasopharyngeal swabs. The measurements were made with a flexible endoscope during the collection of clinical specimens with a nasopharyngeal swab at a public COVID-19 test center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants were volunteer adults undergoing a nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test. All 109 participants (100%) completed the endoscopic measurements; 52 (48%) women; 103 (94%) white; mean age 34.39 (SD, 13.2) years; and mean height 176.7 (SD, 9.29) cm. The mean swab length to the posterior nasopharyngeal wall was 9.40 (SD, 0.64) cm. The mean endoscopic distance to the anterior and posterior end of the inferior turbinate was 1.95 (SD, 0.61) cm and 6.39 (SD, 0.62) cm, respectively. The mean depth to nasal mid-turbinate was calculated as 4.17 (SD, 0.48) cm. The optimal depths of insertion for nasal mid-turbinate swabs are underestimated in current guidelines compared with our findings. This study provides clinical evidence to guide the performance of anatomically correct nasal and nasopharyngeal swab specimen collection for virus testing.
AB - Millions of people are tested for COVID-19 daily during the pandemic, and a lack of evidence to guide optimal nasal swab testing can increase the risk of false-negative test results. This study aimed to determine the optimal insertion depth for nasal mid-turbinate and nasopharyngeal swabs. The measurements were made with a flexible endoscope during the collection of clinical specimens with a nasopharyngeal swab at a public COVID-19 test center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants were volunteer adults undergoing a nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test. All 109 participants (100%) completed the endoscopic measurements; 52 (48%) women; 103 (94%) white; mean age 34.39 (SD, 13.2) years; and mean height 176.7 (SD, 9.29) cm. The mean swab length to the posterior nasopharyngeal wall was 9.40 (SD, 0.64) cm. The mean endoscopic distance to the anterior and posterior end of the inferior turbinate was 1.95 (SD, 0.61) cm and 6.39 (SD, 0.62) cm, respectively. The mean depth to nasal mid-turbinate was calculated as 4.17 (SD, 0.48) cm. The optimal depths of insertion for nasal mid-turbinate swabs are underestimated in current guidelines compared with our findings. This study provides clinical evidence to guide the performance of anatomically correct nasal and nasopharyngeal swab specimen collection for virus testing.
KW - Antigen test
KW - Clinical validation
KW - COVID-19
KW - Mid-turbinate sample
KW - Nasal swab
KW - Nasopharyngeal sample
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Upper respiratory virus
KW - Virus diagnostics
U2 - 10.3390/diagnostics11071257
DO - 10.3390/diagnostics11071257
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34359340
AN - SCOPUS:85111137313
VL - 11
JO - Diagnostics
JF - Diagnostics
SN - 2075-4418
IS - 7
M1 - 1257
ER -
ID: 275941100