Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control-Online Journal

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Article in Japanese

Strategies for Surgical Practice during COVID-19 Epidemic

Hiroaki HATA¹⁾ and Masashi SAJI²⁾
¹⁾Department of Surgery/Infection Control and Prevention, National Hospital Organization, Kyoto Medical Center, ²⁾Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, National Hospital Organization, Kyoto Medical Center

The number of COVID-19 patients in Japan surpassed 7.8 million by the end of April 2022, and the opportunities for the surgical treatment of COVID-19 patients are increasing. The following is the sequence of surgical indications in patients with COVID-19. 1. Surgery should be delayed after seven weeks of infection due to the high incidence of postoperative complications. 2. Surgery should be performed after 10 days of infection to reduce the risk of infection to medical staff. 3. If alternative non-surgical treatment is difficult, emergency surgery with appropriate infection control measures is recommended. The indications for laparoscopic surgery do not need to change even in patients with COVID-19, but it is important to understand the risk of surgical smoke.

Key words：COVID-19, surgery, surgical smoke, laparoscopic surgery

e-mail: hhata-kyt＠umin.ac.jp

Received: May 16, 2022
Accepted: June 7, 2022

37 (5)：158─163,2022