[Results of preoperative SARS-CoV-2 testing in the coronavirus pandemic]

Surgery is challenging during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the preoperative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing in elective and emergency surgery and to calculate the patient contacts during hospital stay.

All surgeries defined by the German procedural classification (starting with a 5) from 1 June until 29 November 2020 were retrospectively evaluated regarding the preoperative SARS-CoV‑2 nasopharyngeal swab test. The results were then divided in emergency and elective surgeries. To show the personal contacts of the patients in a university hospital, we calculated the patient pathway within the department of urology and urosurgery for April 2020. Therefor we used the electronic patient records.

Altogether 7745 surgical procedures in 5985 patients were performed, whereby 39 (0.5%) SARS-CoV‑2 tests were positive. 2833 (37%) surgical procedures were emergency cases and 4912 (63%) were elective procedures. 25 (0.9%) of the emergency group and 14 (0.3%) of the elective surgeries had a positive SARS-CoV‑2 test. The average number of contacts in the patient room was 12.83 (0-50) and 84.22 (0-249) at the ward level, not counting contacts with the clinic staff.

Nearly 1% of the preoperative SARS-CoV‑2 tests of either emergency or elective surgeries tested positive in the 6 months prior to November 2020. Although the risk of undetected SARS-CoV‑2 infection appears to be low in terms of costs and personnel, preoperative screening is useful in high-risk areas to ensure further necessary surgeries, especially concerning cancer patients and to prevent virus spread in a hospital.