• P Sinonquel, M Aerts, A Badaoui, R Bisschops, D Blero, I Demedts, P Deprez, P Dewint, P Eisendrath, P Hindryckx, A Lemmers, Ph Roelandt, C Snauwaert, E Toussaint, and T Moreels.
• Universitair Ziekenhuis Gasthuisberg, Leuven.
• Acta Gastroenterol. Belg. 2020 Apr 1; 83 (2): 344-354.

Background And AimsWith the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic declining, activities in the gastrointestinal clinic are being recommenced after a period of stringent measures. Since a second COVID-19 wave is not entirely ruled out health care professionals might remain faced with the need to perform endoscopic procedures in patients with a confirmed positive or unknown COVID-19 status. With this report we aim to provide a practical relevant overview of preparation and protective measures for gastroenterologists based on the currently available guidelines and our local experience and results of a national Belgian survey, to guarantee a fast recall of an adequate infection prevention if COVID-19 reoccurs.MethodsFrom the 23rd of March 2020 and the 13th of May 2020 we performed a Pubmed, Embase and Medline search, resulting in 37 papers on COVID-19 and endoscopy. Additionally, we combined these data with data acquired from the national BSGIE survey amongst Belgian gastroenterologists.ResultsBased on 72 completed surveys in both university and non-university hospitals, the results show (1) a dramatic (<20%) or substantial (<50%) decrease of normal daily endoscopy in 74% and 22% of the units respectively, (2) a difference in screening and protective measures between university and non-university hospitals. These findings were subsequently compared with the current guidelines.ConclusionBased on new data from the BSGIE survey and current guidelines we tried to realistically represent the current COVID-19 trends in protective measures, screening and indications for endoscopy and to provide a practical overview as preparation for a possible second wave.© Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica.

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