Safety of uro-oncology practice and robot-assisted surgery during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic: A report from India.

Aim: The pandemic by novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the biggest threat to global health care. Routine care of cancer patients is affected the most. Our institute, situated in Mumbai, declared as the hotspot of COVID-19 in India, continued to cater to the needs of cancer patients. We did an observational study to review the experience of managing uro-oncology patients and who underwent either open, endoscopic, or robot-assisted surgery for urological malignancy. Materials and Methods: During the peak of COVID-19 pandemic from March 21, 2020, to June 21, 2020, all the uro-oncology cases managed in our tertiary care hospital were analyzed. Teleconsultation was started for follow-up patients. All patients requiring surgery underwent reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for COVID-19. Institutional protocol was formulated based on existing international guidelines for patient management. Adequate personal protection and hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis were provided to health-care professionals. Results: During the study period, 417 outpatient consultations were made. Forty-nine patients underwent surgery for different urological malignancies. Majority of the surgeries were robot-assisted surgeries (59.2%, 29 patients), followed by endoscopic procedures (28.5%, 14 patients) and few open procedures (10.2%, five patients). Most of our patients were elderly males (mean, 62.5 years). With a median follow-up of 55 days (interquartile range, 32-77), there was no report of COVID-19 infection in any patient or health-care provider. Conclusions: We can continue treating needy cancer patients with minimal risk by taking all precautions. Our initial experience of managing uro-oncology cases during this pandemic is encouraging. Robotic surgeries can be safely performed.

The value of webinars during COVID-19 pandemic: A questionnaire-based survey.

Introduction: An opportunity for e-learning has been created by the ongoing pandemic and lockdown, along with the availability of efficient technology. Webinars have filled in the lacunae of the learning process. We conducted an online survey to evaluate the interest and opinion regarding webinars, which enables for standardization of future webinars and reap the maximum benefits. Methods: An online survey was conducted among practicing urologists and urology residents. The survey was formulated and edited by a group of urologists and uro-oncologists who had experience conducting several regional and international conferences and webinars. The survey comprised 39 questions divided into six parts. Results: A total of 328 urologists throughout the country participated in the survey, and 303 complete responses were obtained for the analysis. 67.3% subjects felt that live webinars are the preferred method of knowledge exchange during the coronavirus disease pandemic, and 58.1% felt that this concept of webinars had to be extended even after the pandemic was over. Few shortcomings in the webinars included lack of networking (41.3%), lack of personal connection (73.3%), and lack of practical skills (35%). About 85.5% felt that the duration should be <90 min, and 83.2% thought that speakers should be restricted to <5. They were comfortable attending the webinars on weekends (48.8%) or weekdays but after hospital hours (43.9%). Most of them felt (92.4%) that webinars should be focused, covering a single theme and including international and national speakers (84.2%). Conclusions: Webinars can be streamlined for the better and continued after the pandemic. A few issues in this novel learning process have to be adequately addressed to strengthen this modality of academic urology.