Published in:
Open Access
19-10-2020 | SARS-CoV-2 | Original Article
Outcomes of Cancer Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Preparedness to Practising Continuous Cancer Care
Authors:
C. Ramachandra, Pavan Sugoor, Uday Karjol, Ravi Arjunan, Syed Altaf, Rajshekar Halkud, R. Krishnappa, Purushotham Chavan, K. T. Siddappa, Rathan Shetty, V. R. Pallavi, Praveen Rathod, K. Shobha, K. S. Sabitha
Published in:
Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology
|
Issue 2/2023
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on healthcare services. Deprioritisation of nonemergency clinical services and growing concerns of adverse outcomes of COVID-19 in cancer patients is having a deleterious impact across oncologic practice. We report cancer surgery outcomes taking into account the acuity of the COVID-19 situation. A prospectively maintained database of the Department of Surgical Oncology was analysed from 1st May to 30th June, 2020, to evaluate the perioperative outcomes, morbidity and mortality following major surgical procedures. A total of 359, preoperatively, tested negative for COVID-19 underwent surgery. Median age was 52 years with 26.7% (n = 96) above the age of 60 years. Sixty-one percent (n = 219) patients were American Society of Anaesthesiology grades II–III. As per surgical complexity grading, 36.8% (n = 132) cases were lower grades (I–III) and 63.2% (n = 227) were complex surgeries (IV–VI). 5.3% (n = 19) had ≥ grade III Clavien-Dindo complication, and the postoperative mortality rate was 0.27% (n = 1). Major complication rates in patients > 60 years were 9.3% in comparison to 4.1% in < 60 years (p = 0·63). The median hospital stay was 1–10 days across subspecialties. Postoperatively, repeat COVID 19 testing in 2 suspected patients were negative. Our study showed that after screening, triaging and prioritisation, asymptomatic cases may undergo cancer surgeries without increased morbidity during COVID-19 pandemic.