During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic , practices of gastrointestinal
procedures within the
digestive tract require special precautions due to the
risk of contraction of severe acute respiratoy
syndrome coronavirus -2 (
SARS-CoV-2 )
infection . Many
procedures in the
gastrointestinal motility laboratory may be considered moderate to high-
risk for viral
transmission .
Healthcare staff working in
gastrointestinal motility laboratories are frequently exposed to splashes,
air droplets,
mucus , or
saliva during the
procedures . Moreover, some are
aerosol -generating and thus have a high
risk of viral
transmission . There are multiple guidelines on the practices of
gastrointestinal endoscopy during this
pandemic . However, such guidelines are still lacking and urgently needed for the practice of
gastrointestinal motility laboratories . Hence, the
Asian Neurogastroenterology and Motility
Association had organized a group of
gastrointestinal motility experts and
infectious disease specialists to produce a position statement
paper based-on current available evidence and
consensus opinion with aims to provide a clear guidance on the practices of
gastrointestinal motility laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic. This
guideline covers a wide range of topics on
gastrointestinal motility activities from scheduling a motility test, the precautions at different steps of the
procedure to
disinfection for the
safety and well-being of the
patients and the
healthcare workers . These practices may vary in different countries depending on the stages of the
pandemic , local or
institutional policy , and the availability of
healthcare resources . This
guideline is useful when the
transmission rate of
SARS-CoV-2 is high. It may change rapidly depending on the situation of the
epidemic and when new evidence becomes available.