Urgent surgical presentations during the coronavirus pandemic: an Australian perspective

Abstract

An inaugural Roundtable on Breast Reconstruction Practice in Australia was held on the Gold Coast in October 2019 to discuss this inequity in BR access. It involved 40 participants from all mainland states and territories. Attendees included breast oncoplastic surgeons, plastic reconstructive surgeons, breast care nurses, cancer policy representatives, consumers, medical and radiation oncologists and industry representatives. While GP representatives were invited, none were available to attend. Practical strategies to address inequities in BR access were discussed and different models of care across Australia were examined. No quick fixes were identified, with changes required on a system level, hospital level and individual surgeon level. Potential solutions included organized referral pathways from primary care to specialized cancer centres, promotion and wider dissemination of existing BR information resources specifically tailored for GPs and patients and the introduction of a formal 'mentor system' between hospitals to provide inexperienced surgeons with advice on patient selection for specific BR procedures, access to multidisciplinary team discussion and the establishment of regular inter-hospital referral patterns (supported by telemedicine). The results of the roundtable are expected to be released in early 2020.

COVID-19 and Fournier’s Gangrene: Is there a Correlation Between Both Diseases?

“…We presume that FG associated with severe cases of COVID-19 indicate a potentially between these two diseases which can aggravate a disease that already has a high morbidity and mortality (28). The presence of FG may be a predictive of worse evolution in COVID-19, however, due to the to the small number of patients included, we could not determine any predictive parameter of the severity of FG associated with COVID-19.…”

Cirurgia de urgência durante a Pandemia da COVID-19

“…A enorme sobrecarga de pacientes com sintomas respiratórios exigiu uma reformulação dos departamentos de emergência (DEs), unidades de terapia intensiva (UTIs) e enfermarias médicas para melhorar a capacidade hospitalar e aumentar as UTIs e leitos dedicados a COVID-19 (Rausei et al, 2020). Além disso, com reformulações de políticas públicas e transferência de recursos, houve a implementação de consultas de telessaúde, cancelamento de cirurgias eletivas, redução das equipes médicas e a redistribuição de pessoal para complementar os setores de cuidados intensivos, como medida de conter a COVID-19 (Chen et al, 2020). Research, Society and Development, v. 11, n. 11, e435111133839, 2022 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v11i11.33839 3 Dessa forma, foi levantada a preocupação de que a COVID-19 afetasse o comportamento de busca por serviços de saúde, possivelmente pela preocupação de sobrecarregar desnecessariamente o sistema, pelo medo de contrair o vírus durante uma visita hipotética a um pronto-socorro e também pela preocupação sobre não ser capaz de ter um visitante ou convidado presente durante seu atendimento, logo levando a apresentação tardia e piores resultados para pacientes com quadro agudo por problemas clínicos e cirúrgicos (McGuiness et al, 2020;Baugh et al, 2020).…”