A Prospective Study to Identify Rates of SARS-CoV-2 Virus in the Peritoneum and Lower Genital Tract of Patients Having Surgery: An Observational Study.
J Minim Invasive Gynecol
; 28(9): 1633-1636, 2021 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1078029
ABSTRACT
STUDY OBJECTIVE:
The risks to surgeons of carrying out aerosol-generating procedures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are unknown. To start to define these risks, in a systematic manner, we investigated the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in the abdominal fluid and lower genital tract of patients undergoing surgery.DESIGN:
Prospective cross-sectional observational study.SETTING:
Single, large United Kingdom hospital. PATIENTS Total of 113 patients undergoing abdominal surgery or instrumentation of the lower genital tract.INTERVENTIONS:
We took COVID-19 swabs from the peritoneal cavity and from the vagina from all eligible patients. Results were stratified by preoperative COVID-19 status. MEASUREMENTS AND MAINRESULTS:
In patients who were presumed COVID-19 negative at the time of surgery, SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA was detected in 0 of 102 peritoneal samples and 0 of 98 vaginal samples. Both cohorts included 4 patients who were antibody positive but nasopharyngeal swab test negative at the time of surgery. Peritoneal and vaginal swabs were also negative in 1 patient who had a positive nasopharyngeal swab immediately before surgery.CONCLUSION:
The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the abdominal fluid or lower genital tract of presumed negative patients is nil or extremely low. These data will inform surgeons of the risks of restarting laparoscopic surgery at a time when COVID-19 is endemic in the population.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Minim Invasive Gynecol
Journal subject:
Gynecology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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