How to prioritize patients and redesign care to safely resume planned surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic (original) (raw)

A new model to prioritize and optimize access to elective surgery throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: A feasibility & pilot study

2020

Mini abstractWe tested usability, safety, and ability to manage elective surgery flow of a multidisciplinary pathway adopting the SWALIS-2020 model in an interhospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pilot included 295 adults. The pathway prioritized, monitored and scheduled surgery in an 840.000-inhabitants area. Using the COVID-19-GOA-Sur-MDT-SWALIS-2020 model may be warranted.Structured abstractThe COVID-19 outbreak burdens non-COVID elective surgery patients with figures similar to the SARS-Cov-2, by creating an overwhelming demand, increasing waiting times and costs. New tools are urgently needed to manage elective access. The study assesses the “SWALIS-2020” model’s ability to prioritize and optimize access to surgery during the pandemic.A 2020 March - May feasibility-pilot study, tested a software-aided, inter-hospital, multidisciplinary pathway. All specialties patients in the Genoa Departments referred for urgent elective surgery were included in a multidisciplin...

Restarting Elective Orthopaedic Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned

2021

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulted in postponing non-emergency elective surgeries beginning in April 2020. Our hospital successfully restarted elective orthopaedic surgery during the pandemic to help improve the quality of life of patients with chronic disabilities. This study describes the development of local protocols and pathways to allow for a safe restart of elective orthopaedic surgery in a COVID-19-free ‘green’ site. It includes the morbidity and mortality outcomes of those patients who underwent non-emergency orthopaedic operations during this time. Methods This is a prospective cohort study over an eight-week period evaluating 104 patients undergoing non-emergency orthopaedic procedures through a COVID-19-free surgical pathway. The primary outcome measure was 14-day postoperative mortality. The main secondary outcome measures were the development of a COVID-19 infection in the hospital and 14 days postoperatively as well as the need for intensive car...

Surgery in times of COVID-19—recommendations for hospital and patient management

Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery, 2020

Background The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has escalated rapidly to a global pandemic stretching healthcare systems worldwide to their limits. Surgeons have had to immediately react to this unprecedented clinical challenge by systematically repurposing surgical wards. Purpose To provide a detailed set of guidelines developed in a surgical ward at University Hospital Wuerzburg to safely accommodate the exponentially rising cases of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients without compromising the care of emergency surgery and oncological patients or jeopardizing the well-being of hospital staff. Conclusions The dynamic prioritization of SARS-CoV-2 infected and surgical patient groups is key to preserving life while maintaining high surgical standards. Strictly segregating patient groups in emergency rooms, non-intensive care wards and operating areas prevents viral spread while adequately training and carefull...

Surgery triage during the COVID‐19 pandemic

ANZ Journal of Surgery, 2020

BackgroundThe novel coronavirus, SARS‐CoV‐2, caused the COVID‐19 global pandemic. In response, the Australian and New Zealand governments activated their respective emergency plans and hospital frameworks to deal with the potential increased demand on scarce resources. Surgical triage formed an important part of this response to protect the healthcare system's capacity to respond to COVID‐19.MethodA rapid review methodology was adapted to search for all levels of evidence on triaging surgery during the current COVID‐19 outbreak. Searches were limited to PubMed (inception to 10 April 2020) and supplemented with grey literature searches using the Google search engine. Further, relevant articles were also sourced through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons COVID‐19 Working Group. Recent government advice (May 2020) is also included.ResultsThis rapid review is a summary of advice from Australian, New Zealand and international speciality groups regarding triaging of surgical c...

How we managed elective, urgent, and emergency orthopedic surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic

Bone & Joint Open, 2020

The COVID-19 virus is a tremendous burden for the Italian health system. The regionally-based Italian National Health System has been reorganized. Hospitals' biggest challenge was to create new intensive care unit (ICU) beds, as the existing system was insufficient to meet new demand, especially in the most affected areas. Our institution in the Milan metropolitan area of Lombardy, the epicentre of the infection, was selected as one of the three regional hub for major trauma, serving a population of more than three million people. The aims were the increase the ICU beds and the rationalization of human and structural resources available for treating COVID-19 patients. In our hub hospital, the reorganization aimed to reduce the risk of infection and to obtained resources, in terms of beds and healthcare personnel to be use in the COVID-19 emergency. Non-urgent outpatient orthopaedic activity and elective surgery was also suspended. A training programme for healthcare personnel st...