Postop effect of vaccination status, mode of anesthesia on COVID-19 patients

Editor's Note

This study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente and the University of California, San Francisco-East Bay, Oakland, finds that having a surgical procedure shortly after COVID-19 infection was not associated with higher risks in fully vaccinated patients or those who did not have general anesthesia.

The analysis included 228,913 patients who had surgery from January 1, 2018, to February 28, 2022. Patients were grouped by time of surgery relative to COVID-19-test positivity.

Among those who were not fully vaccinated at the time of COVID-19 infection, the adjusted rate of complications for those who had surgery 0 to 4 weeks after infection was significantly higher than for those who had surgery at least 30 days before infection.

There was no significantly higher postoperative risk for those who were fully vaccinated or for those who were not fully vaccinated but had surgery without general anesthesia.

Further research is needed to understand additional factors that modify perioperative risks associated with COVID-19 infection, the researchers say.