Sincerely doubt nasal saline rinses would do anything to reduce the risk of catching covid.
We are considering protocols to have patients use dilute iodine solutions as a rinse for several days prior to coming to the office for a nasal endoscopy or prior to having sinus surgery, which maybe would reduce the risk of transmission from an asymptomatic or presymptomatic covid carrier to the provider from these high risk procedures.
I am skeptical both of the utility of this (when they cough after you put a scope in their nose, the rinse will have done nothing for that) and the likelihood many patients would even use the rinses we recommend. More promising to me are facemasks our nurses are making which replaces a portion of the mask with nitrile glove material, which we then cut with a scalpel to make a sort of sealed port to place the scope through, so a patient can wear a mask during the procedure.
We are considering protocols to have patients use dilute iodine solutions as a rinse for several days prior to coming to the office for a nasal endoscopy or prior to having sinus surgery, which maybe would reduce the risk of transmission from an asymptomatic or presymptomatic covid carrier to the provider from these high risk procedures.
I am skeptical both of the utility of this (when they cough after you put a scope in their nose, the rinse will have done nothing for that) and the likelihood many patients would even use the rinses we recommend. More promising to me are facemasks our nurses are making which replaces a portion of the mask with nitrile glove material, which we then cut with a scalpel to make a sort of sealed port to place the scope through, so a patient can wear a mask during the procedure.