COVID-19: Key Concepts for the Surgeon

Teleconsultation in general surgery during Covid-19 pandemic, satisfaction survey and feasibility for future

BACKGROUND

The Covid-19 pandemic has made us to respond to the needs of the community. Telemedicine has gained worldwide acceptance. We describe our experience with teleconsultation in surgical patients during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and evaluate patient satisfaction and the feasibility of maintaining it as a future strategy in selected patients.

METHODS

An observational, retrospective, single-site cohort study was carried out by reviewing electronic medical records and conducting a telephone survey.

RESULTS

1,706 teleconsultations have been carried out: 59.5% of patients were rescheduled, 26.1% have been solved and of these 57.3% (255 patients) have been discharged; 12.19% were not contacted. The 73.6% considered that teleconsultation was able to fully or partially resolve the reason for their medical appointment; 61.6% were willing to continue with teleconsultation; 15.2% of the patients needed some kind of help or required a second call to speak with a family member, and 37.2% would preferred a face-to-face visit because of difficulties with the teleconsultation. The overall satisfaction was 8.7 out of 10.

CONCLUSIONS

Telemedicine has demonstrated to be a useful tool even for surgical patients during Covid-19 pandemia. A high proportion of patients can be managed by telephone call. Patients reported a high degree of satisfaction. Teleconsultation is a feasible strategy not also during the current Covid-19 pandemic but also for future.

General surgeons' attitudes towards COVID-19: A national survey during the SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 global pandemic left the unprepared health care systems struggling to mount a measured response. This gave rise to important questions about surgeons' attitude towards surgical practice and the level of preparation at work.

METHODS

Cross-sectional web-based national survey distributed to general surgeons by e‑mail over a period of 7 days.

RESULTS

Among 304 responders, 42.6% were working in the hospital with COVID-19 patients. Three quarters of all surgeons (74.5%) were afraid of contracting the disease. While 42% expressed a fear for their own life while caring for COVID-19 patients, 90.1% were afraid of transmitting the disease to family members. The average reported level of PPE provided at the workplace was significantly higher among the group which was not afraid of contracting COVID-19 than among the group afraid of contracting COVID-19 (4.0 vs. 3.12, p = 0.02). Nearly all surgeons (93.8%) agreed that cancer surgeries should be continued during the pandemic and 49% perceived laparoscopy as a safe approach when operating on COVID-19 positive patients.

CONCLUSION

A high proportion of surgeons admitted being afraid of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had various implications for their attitude towards surgical practice. Protecting health care workers is an important component of public health measures for addressing the epidemic.