The Digestive Surgery Department’s Activity Report during the COVID-19 Pandemic “Quarantine Period”

Abstract

In this very particular moment through which we are living, it seems interesting to expose our own experience in taking digestive surgery patients. Emergency, oncological surgeries remained a priority. Functional surgery was deferred. On March 19, 2020, the Interior Ministry declares a state of health emergency and restricted traffic in Morocco from Friday (March 20.2020) until further notice, and declares this as the only inevitable way to keep the coronavirus under control. Therefore, The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the organization of healthcare and has a direct impact on digestive surgery. Healthcare priorities and circuits are being modified. The Mohamed the VI university Hospital consists of 4 hospitals and two centers; during this period, Ibn Tofail Hospital was dedicated to surgical management (all specialties combined). In addition to public Hospitals and some Mohamed the VI University Hospitals were involved in the Covid patients care. This last had two poles of digestive surgery (two different hospitals), the first one was dedicated to Covid-19 patients, and latter one for non-Covid patients, the advantage of this second pole: different specialties with a surgical resuscitation and emergency intensive care unit. The precautions, taken, were given the large number of healthy carriers; it must be emphasized that protective measures must be used in the care of all personnel and patients. Surgical treatment of 625 patients (From 20 March to 10 June) was carried out in collaboration with the resuscitation department, radiology, gastroenterology, oncology, biological laboratory, anatomopathology, paramedical staff and mainly in responsibility sense of the university hospital direction and the ministry of health engagement. We detail the results below. The report purpose: there is probably an added risk due to the pandemic that must be balanced against the risk incurred by deferring surgery. Not only the Covid-19 caused death during this pandemic, also we must work hard to treat other pathologies which can be fatal.