Achievement of decision-to-delivery interval in emergency cesarean section category 1 during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

Decision-to-delivery interval of emergency Caesarean Section (CS) Category 1 is a medical intervention with many factors that influence it and should be achieved within 30 minutes. In adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic, health services in hospitals have changed. Thus, this literature review aims to identify factors affecting DDI in emergency CS category 1 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was conducted using a scoping review method referred to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) protocol. The literature search uses electronic databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar with keywords such as "The COVID-19 Pandemic”, "Emergency Caesarean Section”, and "Decision-to-delivery Interval”. Literature included were health reports, clinical practice guidelines or recommendations, and peer-reviewed journal articles without limiting published years. From 451 articles retrieved, 17 articles meet the eligible criteria. Eleven articles discussed factors that influenced the DDI of CS emergencies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and six articles discussed emergency surgery practices recommendations. New factors affecting DDI during the COVID-19 pandemic were the shortage of health workers, limited medical supplies, installation of PPE, and infection protocol system due to virus transmission. Postponing elective surgery and new patient triage systems could help the hospitals to achieve decision-to-delivery intervals within the recommended time when medical supplies and shortage of health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023, Sanglah General Hospital. All rights reserved.