International journal of surgery
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The rapidly spreading coronavirus infection (COVID-19) worldwide has contracted all aspects of health systems. Developing countries that mostly have a weaker healthcare system and insufficient resources are likely to be the most hardly affected by the pandemic. ⋯ Elective cancer surgeries are often considered to be postponed during COVID-19 pandemic to preserve valuable hospital resources such as personal protection equipment, hospital bed, intensive care unit capacity, and manpower to screen and treat the affected individuals. However, specific considerations to defer cancer surgery in developing countries might need to be carefully adjusted to counterbalance between preventing COVID-19 transmission and preserving patients 'long-term life expectancy and quality of life.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID 19) had emerged as a global pandemic in recent times. The healthcare sector is at the epicentre of this unprecedented global pandemic challenge. Hospitals all over the world have reduced the number of non-emergency surgeries in order to utilise the staff and resources in a more efficient way. ⋯ Laparoscopy remains the preferred surgical approach for most surgical indications. There is theoretical possibility of generation of aerosols contaminated with COVID-19 from leaked CO2 and smoke generation after energy device use. The aim of this paper is to review available evidence evaluating the risk of spread of COVID-19 during necessary laparoscopic procedures and to compile guidelines from relevant professional organizations to minimize this risk.
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International professional bodies have been quick to disseminate initial guidance documents during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the absence of firm evidence, these have been developed by expert committees, limited in participant number. This study aimed to validate international COVID-19 surgical guidance using a rapid Delphi consensus exercise. ⋯ Initial surgical COVID-19 guidance from the US, Europe and Australasia was widely supported by an international expert community, although a small number of contentious areas emerged. These findings should be addressed in future guidance iterations, and should stimulate urgent investigation of non-consensus areas.
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COVID-19 has caused a global healthcare crisis with increasing number of people getting infected and dying each day. Different countries have tried to control its spread by applying the basic principles of social distancing and testing. Healthcare professionals have been the frontline workers globally with different opinions regarding the preparation and management of this pandemic. We aim to get the opinion of healthcare professionals in United Kingdom regarding their perceptions of preparedness in their workplace and general views of current pandemic management strategy. ⋯ Despite current efforts, it would seem this is not translating to a sense of security amongst the UK NHS workforce in terms of how they feel trained and protected. It is vital that healthcare professionals have adequate support and protection at their workplace and that these aspects be actively monitored.
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Although Singapore was one of the first countries outside of China to be affected by COVID-19, for the first 2.5 months since its first reported case on January 23, 2020, it remained one of the few nations with successful containment of spread of the pandemic with little mortality and zero intra-hospital transmissions, without instituting a major lockdown of the country. In times of an infectious epidemic where medical subspecialties lead the frontline, a surgeon's role becomes rather vague. However, the only obstacle that stands in between the surgeon and fighting in the frontline of an infectious disease outbreak, is the traditional perception of what a surgeon can do. By presenting the strategies employed by our institution and its surgical unit, which remains the epicenter of the COVID-19 fight in Singapore, together with our medical counterparts, we hope to be able to improve our practices to respond and prevent the pandemic from escalating further as a collective community of surgeons across the globe. ⋯ With the varies strategies implemented, every surgical discipline and every surgeon should be unified and place their desire to operate aside. There should not be any differentiation between surgeon and physician, but instead, everyone has to work together as one united health care front battling the common enemy - COVID-19.