ABSTRACT
Background: Elective Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeries (BMS) were stopped all over the world during this COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the availability of hospital resources to combat the pandemic and also to protect its first responders and other care givers. Only emergency and urgent cases were permitted. However, the actions taken early in the pandemic by the government of Taiwan and our center's collective efforts allowed us to be the only center in the world to safely perform elective BMS unhampered. Method(s): A retrospective review and analysis of the trends, complications and safety for all elective BMS from January to April 2020 was done. We reviewed the preparations, healthcare policies, and protocols created by the government of Taiwan against COVID-19 and our center's robust algorithm for patient and healthcare workers (HCW) surveillance and safety. Results and Discussion: A total of 99 patients underwent elective BMS from January to April 2020. The breakdown was 59 females and 40 males with an average body mass index (BMI) of 35.20 kg/m2 and 40.68 kg/m2 respectively. Compared to the previous year when a total 117 patients had surgery, a decline of 18 elective operations (-15.38%) was noted. There were no reported cases of a patient developing postoperative COVID-19 or a HCW. Conclusion(s): Elective operations may not need to be postponed if you have already in place early mitigation measures to prevent a pandemic spread, including but not limited to a prompt implementation of protocols and strict adherence to these measures. (Figure Presented).