Adapting to an unprecedented scenario: surgery during the COVID-19 outbreak

ABSTRACT On January 30th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2 (SARSCoV-2) outbreak an international public health emergency, and one day later, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Gomera Island, Spain. In the following weeks, the number of cases in several Spanish cities spiked alarmingly, with thousands reported. This new coronavirus outbreak generated unprecedented changes in the Surgery Departments around the world, first in Asia, followed weeks later in Europe and America. This novel scenario of health crisis demanded a change in logistics and organization to guarantee urgent operations onCOVID-19 cases without interrupting the capability to handle emergency and oncologic surgery in the virus-free population, minimizing the viral transmission to staff and other patients. This manuscript aims to summarize the changes adopted by the General and GI Surgery Departments to address this unprecedented clinical scenario, including the restructuring of surgical schedules, staff preparation, and the departments outbreak response protocols and recommendations for surgical techniques and risk management.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: BENÍTEZ,CARLOS YÁNEZ, PEDIVAL,ANA NOGUÉS, TALAL,ISSA, CROS,BEATRIZ, RIBEIRO JUNIOR,MARCELO AUGUSTO FONTENELLE, AZFAR,MOHAMMAD, SAVERIO,SALOMONE DI, LAINA,JUAN LUIS BLAS
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Colégio Brasileiro de Cirurgiões 2020
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-69912020000100311
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!