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Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Nuneaton , Warwickshire , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Department of General Surgery, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust , Nuneaton , United Kingdom
Aim
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the delivery of elective, as well as emergency surgery on a worldwide scale. Up to date few studies have actually assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the postoperative morbidity and mortality following emergency gastrointestinal surgery. Herein, we present our relevant experience over a 3-month period of uninterrupted provision of emergency general surgery services in George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, the United Kingdom.
Methods
We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospective institutional database, which included the operation types, paraclinical investigations and postoperative complications of all patients undergoing emergency general surgery operations between March-May 2020.
Results
The occurrence of a 5% overall respiratory complication rate postoperatively, with 3% infection rate for COVID-19 was found; no patient had unplanned return to intensive care for ventilator support and there was no mortality related to COVID-19 infection.
Conclusion
When indicated, emergency surgery should not be delayed in favour of expectant/conservative management in fear of COVID-19-related morbidity or mortality risks.
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