Safety of uro-oncology practice and robot-assisted surgery during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic: A report from India.
J Cancer Res Ther
; 18(6): 1629-1634, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2144197
ABSTRACT
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 andMethods:
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.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Robotic Surgical Procedures
/
COVID-19
/
Neoplasms
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
J Cancer Res Ther
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
/
Therapeutics
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jcrt.JCRT_1006_20
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS