Surgical Protocols before and after COVID-19-A Narrative Review

Area of Science:

• Surgical Sciences
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted healthcare systems worldwide.
• Clinical practices, surgical procedures, and operating room management underwent significant alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and analyze changes in general surgery protocols and procedures.
• To compare surgical practices before and after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across major databases: PubMed-Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar.
• Search terms included "SARS-CoV-2", "Surgery", "COVID-19", "Surgical protocol", "Surgical recommendations", and "before and after".
• Data from 41 selected studies were extracted and analyzed from an initial pool of 236 identified articles.

Main Results:

• Significant modifications in surgical practices were observed across the analyzed literature.
• A notable decrease in the volume of elective surgeries was recorded during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic periods.
• Hospitals globally performed substantially fewer surgical procedures, with a pronounced reduction in elective/non-urgent cases.

Conclusions:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated substantial changes in general surgery protocols and procedures.
• Elective surgical procedures were significantly curtailed during the pandemic, impacting surgical caseloads worldwide.
• Healthcare systems adapted surgical practices in response to the pandemic's evolving challenges.