[Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for surgical service]

The COVID-19 pandemic has a serious impact on surgical service, emergency and especially elective surgical care. Many hospitals were re-designated as COVID hospitals due to resource constraints and large number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. This led to cancellation or postponement of scheduled surgeries. In addition, restrictions in elective surgery were associated with the risk of infection in surgical patients. Various protocols and guidelines recommended non-surgical or outpatient treatment if possible. During the pandemic, postoperative morbidity and mortality in emergency surgery increased significantly. The same is true for elective surgeries in 7-8 weeks after previous coronavirus infection. The authors analyze the issues of organization, priorities for restoration of elective surgery and criteria for patient selection.