Headache Medicine 2020, 11(2):30-31 ISSN 2178-7468, e-ISSN 2763-6178
30
ASAA
DOI: 10.48208/HeadacheMed.2020.9
Headache Medicine
© Copyright 2020
Clinical Correspondence
Management of chronic orofacial pain in pandemic of COVID-19
Wagner Hummig
1
Bianca Lopes Cavalcante-Leão
2
José Stechman-Neto
2
1
Instituto de Neurologia de Curitiba, Setor de Cefaleia e Dor Orofacial (SCEDOF), Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
2
Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Curso de Odontologia, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
COVID-19 whose etiological factor is the SARS-CoV-2,is a new disease that plagues humanity
and brings with it a real threat to physical integrity and profound repercussions on the individual’s
mental health, especially in the face of doubts and uncertainties of the future.
1
Global governments are adopting social detachment and isolation as measures in order to mitigate
this pandemic. This tactic has revealed an exacerbation of important psychiatric disorders, such
as: anxiety,depression and phobias to the most vulnerable groups.
2
The impact of these protective measures were studied by Wang et al and coworkers
3
during the
initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, and revealed that 53.8% of respondents rated
the psychological impact of the outbreak as moderate or severe; 16.5% reported moderate to
severe depressive symptoms; 28.8% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 8.1%
reported moderate to severe stress levels.
3
It is already known that there is a bidirectional relationship between chronic orofacial pain and psy-
chosocial conditions and/or psychiatric disorders, forming a two-way street, where neural markers
for fear and anxiety show the existence of an exacerbation process of painful symptoms
4
, being
itself social isolation and mitigation methods the possible catalysts of pain events.
It is estimated that chronic orofacial pain (COP) affects 7% of the population
4
, a vulnerable group
that is in social connement and at the mercy of television news and social media that evoke fear
and chaos in the face of the unknown.
The Brazilian government, after the World Health Organization (WHO) decreed a pandemic by
COVID-19, considered that only activities called urgency/emergency should be attended to, and
this caused all elective appointments to be canceled.
Most of the patients with COP who were seen on an outpatient basis at the Chronic Pain Services
(CPS) were considered non-urgent. Thus, in the face of this pandemic scenario, it is important to
note that care for patients with chronic pain is extremely relevant to the individual’s quality and
well-being, in addition to the fact that a large part of this group presents psychosocial changes
as comorbidities in which the possible interruption pharmacological treatment can exacerbate
such problems.
In order to assist the patient with COP in a complete and safe way, we encourage the use of
telemedicine and online prescriptions with digital certication, and face-to-face assistance in
selected urgent cases is recommended.
We consider this moment, that humanity is passing through, unique and with a great oppor-
tunity to implement and execute new clinical care tools, developing interpersonal and virtual
skills.
Wagner Hummig
waghum@hotmail.com
Edited by
Mario Fernando Prieto Peres
31
ASAA
Hummig W, Leão BLC, Neto JS.
Management of chronic orofacial pain in pandemic of COVID-19
References
1. Holmes EA, O’Connor RC, Perry VH, et al. Multidisciplinary
research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action
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[Epub ahead of print] Review.
2. Ho CS, Chee CY, Ho RC. Mental Health Strategies to Combat
the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Beyond Paranoia and
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3. Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, et al. Immediate psychological res-
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2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the
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