Elective Surgery Guidelines During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Current Literature Review

Abstract

Background: The primary purpose of this literature review is to investigate different views of elective surgery management during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, the guidelines about diseases prevention and their proper management during performing elective surgeries have been reviewed. Materials and Methods: Current articles related to COVID-19 and practicing elective surgeries in different remarkable EndNote X8 database journals in 2020 were retrieved. All articles referring to COVID-19 precaution rules in implementing elective surgeries were integrated into the article’s main goals. Results: All reviews showed alarming guideline steps that should be taken for validated preventing and managing elective surgeries practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emphasizing qualified elective surgery protocols were quoted in many articles to do elective surgeries with successful results. Conclusion: Taking effective and evidence-based steps in patients` selection, precautions, and hospitals` safety cares result in protective surgical results. Elective surgeries should be practiced in highly-equipped hospitals with extraordinary quarantine measures during a COVID-19 pandemic. Safety measures are the primary goal for patients, staff, surgeons, and other health providers before surgeons get involved with any elective surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions of how different elective surgical operations are planned during the COVID-19 pandemic are essential controversies. As no clear answers are found to questions of how elective surgeries can be practiced during a COVID-19 pandemic, specific rules issued by the world’s most authentic surgical associations have been adopted by surgeons to operate elective surgeries.