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COVID-19 Intelligence Report: Surgery

May 18, 2020

Title: Resuming Elective Orthopaedic Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Guidelines Developed by the International Consensus Group (ICM)

Publisher: The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery

Publication Date: May 2020 (In-press Article)

URL: https://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal/fulltext/2020/07150/resuming_elective_orthopaedic_surgery_during_the.2.aspx

Key Takeaway:  Practical guidelines developed by an International Consensus Group, consisting of 77 expert physicians in Orthopedics, Infectious Disease, Microbiology/Virology, and Anesthesia, providing recommendations regarding when elective orthopedic surgery can be resumed and related issues in setting of pandemic.

April 27, 2020

Title:  Joint Statement: Roadmap for Resuming Elective Surgery after COVID-19 Pandemic

Publisher: American Society of Anesthesiologists

Publication: April 17, 2020

URL: https://www.asahq.org/about-asa/newsroom/news-releases/2020/04/joint-statement-on-elective-surgery-after-covid-19-pandemic

Key Takeaway: 

  • This is a joint statement from the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, and American Hospital Association regarding when it may be safe to resume elective surgeries. 
  • Eight key considerations are outlined: timing for reopening of elective surgery, COVID19 testing in the facility, PPE, case prioritization and scheduling, post-COVID-19 issues, collection and management of data, COVID-related safety and risk mitigation surrounding the “second wave,” and additional COVID-19-related issues.

April 20, 2020

Title: Surgery in COVID-19 Patients: Operational Directives

Publication: World Journal of Emergency Surgery, April 7, 2020

URL: https://wjes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13017-020-00307-2

Key Takeaway: This is a set of recommendations for assuring safety of patients requiring acute surgical care and the surgical/anesthesia team during a mass casualty event like Covid-19. These recommendations are from a collaboration of the major Italian surgical and anesthesiologist societies.

Title: Medically-Necessary, Time-Sensitive Procedures: A Scoring System to Ethically and Efficiently Manage Resource Scarcity and Provider Risk During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Publication: Journal of the American College of Surgeons, April 7, 2020

URL: https://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(20)30317-3/pdf

Key Takeaway:  This manuscript describes a scoring system that considers factors (resource limitations, COVID-19 transmission risk to providers and patients) when making decisions to proceed with

Medically-Necessary Time-Sensitive (MeNTS) surgical procedures.

April 10, 2020

Surgery in COVID-19 patients: operational directives [Commentary]

 

April 4, 2020

Peri-Operative Nursing COVID-19 Resource Guide

  • https://www.aorn.org/guidelines/aorn-support/covid19-faqs  
  • The Association of Peri-Operative Registered Nurses provides this resource for the perioperative community on a variety of topics which are influenced by COVID-19 including surgical precautions, personal protective equipment, transmission-based precautions, environmental cleaning, leadership, ambulatory surgical centers, converting OR/ventilators and sterilization. March 27, 2020

Experience of Diagnosing and Managing Patients in Oral Maxillofacial Surgery during the Prevention and Control Period of the New Coronavirus Pneumonia

  • Chinese Journal of Dental Research 
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32232230 
  • The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology summarised their experience with disease prevention and control and clinical recommendations on the examination, diagnosis and treatment processes, clinical management, healthcare personnel protection and disinfection amid the continued spread of the pandemic. March 25, 2020

March 31, 2020

Laproscopy & Endoscopy Recommendations Regarding Surgical Response to COVID-19 Crisis

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