A rational approach to manage surgical procedures in COVID Era - A perspective based on experience in a private referral hospital.
J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol
; 36(3): 325-330, 2020.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-916479
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:
COVID-19 disease has imposed challenges in caring for non-Covid elective surgical patients. As elective surgeries become essential, we propose to evaluate our approach and outcomes of surgical procedures performed during the initial period of COVID-19 pandemic so as to provide a road-map for safer approach. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS:
We retrospectively evaluated outcomes in patients who underwent essential elective and emergency surgeries during the 5-week period between April 18, 2020 and May 28, 2020. All patients were screened at the front desk on their arrival to identify possible exposure to SARS- CoV-2. Nasopharyngeal swab of patients requiring hospital admission was tested for COVID-19 by quantitative RT-PCR. Patients needing essential elective surgery were taken up for surgery if they tested negative for COVID-19. Emergency procedures were undertaken in a demarcated theatre for COVID after taking level-3 protection without delay. The clinical data was reviewed and analysed.RESULTS:
A total of 764 surgical procedures were conducted, of which 70.7% were elective essential surgeries, with 95.4% of these patients being discharged in stable healthy condition. Approximately 23% of the elective and 26% of the emergency surgeries was categorised in the surgical difficulty category III and majority of these were performed under general anesthesia. Postoperative mortality was 1.04%, but the overall mortality rate was approximately 2.5%. Only two patients (0.3%) tested positive for COVID-19 in our series.CONCLUSION:
A robust preoperative screening and testing can enable safe scheduling of essential elective surgeries.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Joacp.JOACP_420_20
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