Study: Anesthetic management of patients with suspected COVID-19 during emergency surgical procedures

Editor's Note

This retrospective, multicenter study from four hospitals in Wuhan, China, found that Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) specific guidelines for emergency surgical procedures in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection can effectively prevent cross-infection in the OR.

The guidelines include:

• negative pressure ORs
• level 3 protective measures for OR staff, anesthesiologists, surgeons
• single-use of all anesthetic equipment, utensils, and drugs
• anesthetic devices in contact with the respiratory tract, including video laryngoscope lenses, plastic respiratory tubes, and suction tubes should be discarded after single use
• thorough disinfection and sterilization of the OR after the surgery
• self-decontamination of OR staff, anesthesiologists, surgeons.

Implementing similar measures will hopefully be successful in reducing the nosocomial transmission of  COVID-19 in the perioperative setting, the authors say.