- There has been an international push to reduce ICU space and ventilator usage for surgical patients in order to give resources to COVID-19 patients
- More staff that are capable to work in the OR, but may not be directly assigned, can be allocated to operations such as certified nurses or surgical techs
- Employ new classifications for oncological cases including life threatening conditions versus patients that may be allowed to be put on a wait list
- Increasing telemedical visits when possible would also decrease risk of infection in high risk patients


Ohio State University, Columbus

- This article provides general guidelines for what sectors of surgical care must be altered during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
-  Some areas of change include:
     - Changing the workflow and schedule in the operating room to accommodate critical care patients
     - Developing new emergency surgical plans to provide essential care
     - Increased staff education on PPE and safety requirements
     - Minimizing health care worker possibility of infection
     - Create dedicated spaces for COVID-19 patients in the wider hospital environment


Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on surgical practice - Part 1

Al-Jabir, A., Kerwan, A., Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Khan, M., Sohrabi, C., O'Neill, N., Iosifidis, C., Griffin, M., Mathew, G., & Agha, R. (2020). Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on surgical practice - Part 1. International journal of surgery (London, England), 79, 168–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.05.022

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7214340/


Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on surgical practice – Part 1

Changes to Surgical Systems

- All procedures should be completed with maximum PPE to preserve staff health as much as possible to maximize already compromised workforce
- All non-essential people in the operating room should be removed in order to minimize possibility of infection of the patient as well as to preserve PPE
- Optimization of ventilation systems in operating rooms is a fairly simple practice that drastically increases safety during surgery
- Post operative patients should be recovered in the operating room to minimize the possibility of infection during transport
- After surgery patients should be closely monitored for signs of COVID-19 as risk of infection is inordinately high at this point


Procedural Changes

- Many educational opportunities and conferences have been cancelled or virtual for the foreseeable future to minimize risk
- Many certification guidelines for surgeons worldwide have been created to help new surgeons get certified or recertify existing surgeons to help alleviate staffing issues


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