COVID-19 Patients Encountered by a General Surgeon: Seven Unique Scenarios

Abstract

With rising demand of surgical interventions post-lockdown due to Coronavirus Infectious Disease (COVID)-19, surgeons all over the country have restarted their surgical practice. To increase caution and safety, seven scenarios in which surgeons in a Tertiary Care Centre in North India encountered COVID-19 patients during lockdown are being highlighted in the present case series. The main aim was to encourage prompt recognition and isolation of positive patients along with establishment of a clear institutional protocol for surgical practice to keep our system resilient and useful for the population we serve. Clinical and radiological records of eleven patients admitted from 22.3.2020 to 31.5.2020 (period of lockdown) in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India were studied separately and concluded consensually by two surgeons and seven unique scenarios in which a surgeon may encounter a COVID-19 patient were identified. First was the COVID-19 positive patient with concurrent symptomatic surgical pathology, second was COVID-19 positive patient incidentally diagnosed with additional surgical pathology and third was a solely surgical patient mimicking COVID19 positive symptomatology. Fourth was a COVID-19 negative surgical patient acquiring nosocomial COVID-19 infection, fifth was COVID-19 positive surgical patient with false negative COVID-19 test report, sixth was COVID-19 suspected by intraoperative unusual intestinal findings and then, getting postoperative COVID-19 test positive for the patient and last was COVID-19 patients requiring elective surgical procedures.

Keywords

• coronavirus
• healthcare workers
• institutional protocol
• surgery