Control of airborne particles in surgical procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic: scoping review

To map the technical and managerial strategies for the management and reduction of airborne particles production in surgical procedures settings during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scoping review, according to the Joana Briggs Institute methodology, based on documents indexed in MEDLINE, VHL, CINAHL Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and gray literature, published in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. All studies from indexed scientific journals and recommendations published by international agencies or academic associations from 2019 to January 2022 were considered. Findings were summarized and analyzed using descriptive statistics and narrative synthesis.

Twenty-two studies were selected, 19 of which were published in English, two in Spanish, one in Portuguese, with a predominance of literature reviews. Findings were categorized into recommendations for the environment, the team, and the surgical technique.

The review mapped the technical and managerial strategies for the management and reduction of the airborne particles production in surgical procedures settings. They involve from the use of personal protective equipment, training, anesthetic modality, airway manipulation, to the execution of the surgical technique.