key: cord-0852564-0xdcu1xq
authors: Verma, Surender; Garg, Pradeep; Gera, Mridul; Agarwal, Shivika; Verma, Anjali
title: Complications and Outcomes of Surgical Patients Operated During COVID 19: a Single Centre Study
date: 2022-02-01
journal: Indian J Surg
DOI: 10.1007/s12262-022-03308-4
sha: 93954e2239696ee53df33727103d995a57882019
doc_id: 852564
cord_uid: 0xdcu1xq

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1 had gut gangrene for which the patient was reoperated. Mean duration of hospital stay was 9.6 days, 15 (65.2%) patients required intensive care unit (ICU) care where they were given anticoagulants and steroids, and out of those, 9 (39.1%) patients expired postoperatively.

In our study, it was observed that postoperative morbidity and mortality were high in COVID-19-positive patients. Several articles had already reported negative outcomes of surgery in infected patients since the beginning of the pandemic [2] [3] [4] . An international, multicentre, cohort study had found that postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and were associated with high mortality (23.8%) [3] . Findings from a multicentre Canadian cohort study and a Chinese study suggested that COVID-19 patients undergoing a surgery had mortality rate of 20.5% with 44.1% requiring ICU admissions and 15.9% with 27% ICU admissions respectively [1, 4] .

Another Italian multicentre study recorded 32% intensive care unit admissions, 33.8% postoperative pulmonary complications, and 14.7% postoperative deaths [5] . Our study had more ICU admissions and high mortality as compared to the previous studies as ours was a single centre study involving a smaller number of patients requiring emergency surgeries and the patients who were operated were already sick. Pulmonary complications were the most reported complications and were responsible for morbidity and mortality in previous studies, and same findings were there in our study [2] . As maximum patients succumbed due to pulmonary complications, COVID-19 infection was the main contributory factor for this catastrophic outcome. Hence, it is important to adopt strategies like specialised ICU care and chest physiotherapy that will reduce pulmonary complications post operatively.

Despite high morbidity and mortality, most of studies have concluded that emergency surgery should not be postponed. Moreover, such studies will help to formulate policies for better post-operative care in COVID-19-positive patients. In addition, multiple studies involving many centres will be helpful to reach a definitive conclusion regarding outcome of these patients.

Author Contribution SV: implemented the study, analysis, and wrote manuscript; PG, AV: supervised data collection and provided inputs in manuscript; MG, SA: collected data and contributed to writing of manuscript.

Postoperative outcomes in surgical COVID-19 patients: a multicenter cohort study

Factors associated with surgical mortality and complications among patients with and without coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19 infection

Complications and mortality in a cohort of patients undergoing emergency and elective surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an Italian multicenter study. Teachings of Phase 1 to be brought in Phase 2 pandemic

The authors declare no competing interests.