ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To assess potential nosocomial coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) transmission in patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic procedures during the pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Prospective study in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopy in urology or gynaecology within 2 academic hospitals. Patients underwent local preoperative COVID-19 screening using a symptoms questionnaire. Patients with suspicious screening underwent coronavirus real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were excluded from robotic surgery if positive. Patients with symptoms postsurgery were systematically tested for coronavirus by RT-PCR. One-month postsurgery, all patients had a telephone consultation to evaluate COVID-19 symptoms. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients underwent robotic surgery during the study period (median age: 63-years [IQR: 53-70], 1.8 male: female ratio). Oncology was the main indication for robotic surgery (nâ¯=â¯62, 91.2%) and 26 patients (38.2%) received a chest CT-scan prior to surgery. Eleven patients (16.2%) were symptomatic after surgery of whom only 1 tested positive for coronavirus by RT-PCR (1.5%) and was transferred to COVID-19 unit with no life-threatening condition. No attending surgeon was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study. CONCLUSIONS: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery seemed safe in the era of COVID-19 as long as all recommended precautions are followed. The rate of nosocomial COVID-19 transmission was extremely low despite the fact that we only used RT-PCR testing in symptomatic patients during the preoperative work-up. Larger cohort is needed to validate these results.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/transmission , Cross Infection/diagnosis , Robotic Surgical Procedures/methods , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Surveys and Questionnaires/statistics & numerical data , Academic Medical Centers , Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/virology , Female , Gynecologic Surgical Procedures/methods , Gynecologic Surgical Procedures/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Laparoscopy/methods , Male , Middle Aged , Pandemics/prevention & control , Postoperative Period , Prospective Studies , Robotic Surgical Procedures/statistics & numerical data , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Urologic Surgical Procedures/methods , Urologic Surgical Procedures/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients with COVID-19 are more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome. Thus, several adjustments to the use of intravesical instillations of bacillus Calmette-Guérin should be made during the current pandemic to limit the risk of contamination.