Elective surgeries in the “new normal” post-COVID-19 pandemic: to test or do not test?

Abstract

<jats:p>ABSTRACT The new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been wreaking havoc all over the planet. In a precautionary measure, populations have been forced and kept under quarantine to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease. The quarantine primary goal is to avoid the overload to the hospitals, which should be available for the care of COVID-19 patients. However, the virus does not have a uniform spread throughout the planet, and Brazil is no different. Although all the world’s attention is now on the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no similar pattern of spread, and other diseases are still a real problem. Given the risks of transmission between patients and healthcare providers, there is a great challenge for healthcare institutions who must balance resources to assure safe care to patients and professionals while they take care of other disease patients, and perform surgical procedures that need to be carried out. Under such circumstances, as COVID-19 can also present pre- or asymptomatic transmission, it can be challenging to identify patients who are carrying and spreading the virus. Studies and information on mandatory testing for who are candidates to undergo elective surgery are scarce. Thus, the authors have reviewed the literature, and discuss the need to test these patients under the current context.</jats:p>

Scenario of Elective Colorectal Oncology Surgeries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…It is not possible to rule out contamination of other asymptomatic patients; however, the complication rate evidenced in the present study is lower than the data indicated by other studies that demonstrated a mortality of up to 38% and 60% of pulmonary complications in asymptomatic patients undergoing surgery, depending on their age. [18][19][20][21] Thus, the data provided by the present study may demonstrate a possibility of maintaining oncological surgeries even during the pandemic.…”

Residency training for minimally invasive surgery

“…There was a sudden increase in the demand for care and hospital beds, which overloaded these systems 1 . Thus, the effective functioning of essential health services was threatened due to the lower availability of resources (material, economic, and human) that were directed towards fighting the pandemic 2 .…”

A infecção hospitalar pela COVID-19 em cirurgias: a importância da paramentação cirúrgica/ Hospital infection with COVID-19 in surgeries: the importance of surgical dressing Sepsis and surgical antisepsis on Covid-19

“…Brazilian Journal of Development, Curitiba, v.7, n.8, p. 77874-77885 aug. 2021 (ANVISA, 2021, p. 5). Nesse cenário, são permitidas as realizações de cirurgias, tendo em vista que a não realização pode prejudicar o prognóstico do paciente, contudo questões como a composição da equipe cirúrgica, triagem de pacientes, capacitação dos profissionais e organização das equipes e utilização correta e rigorosa de equipamentos de proteção individual devem ser criteriosas quanto ações efetivas de prevenção e controle dessa nova infecção, uma vez que a contaminação tanto dos pacientes quanto dos profissionais podem acarretar sofrimentos e gastos excessivos para o sistema de saúde (SILVA et al, 2020). Portanto, essa revisão de literatura foi elaborada frente ao crescente impacto da pandemia no atendimento cirúrgico com o objeto de estudar as mudanças e aprimoramentos adquiridos no aspecto da paramentação cirúrgica diante à COVID-19.…”