Postoperative nosocomial COVID-19 infection in surgical patients during pandemic: A prospective observational cohort study

Background: increased pressure on healthcare systems and possible risk of nosocomial COVID-19 infection during pandemic urged many guidelines to severely restrict the number of operations. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of COVID-19 infection and its complications in patients undergoing urgent or elective operations.Methods: a prospective observational cohort study was conducted in a tertiary surgical center and all patients with no preoperative history of COVID-19 undergoing elective or emergent surgeries were included in this investigation. chest computed tomography (CT) scan or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test were performed on patients before and after surgery.

183 patients who underwent an operation were enrolled in this study. In postoperative follow-up, 12 patients were positive for COVID-19 infection as identified by RT-PCR and non-contrasted chest CT scans. Regrettably, 2 individuals passed with one of these individuals dying as a direct result of COVID-19 infection. All the 12 cases of post-operative COVID-19 patients underwent elective surgeries.

the gathered results indicate a need for the re-evaluation of the risks of operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. If operations are performed while observing protective and preventative protocols, the risk of post-operative nosocomial COVID-19 is significantly reduced. Hence, the consequences imposed on patients by the delay or cancellation of operations (most notably in cancer cases) may outweigh the risk of post-operative COVID-19 infections.