Regional anesthesia in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: Clinical guidelines by AORA, India

Ponde, Vrushali Chandrashekhar; Diwan, Sandeep; Gopal, Thota Venkata Sanjeev; Subramanian, J. Balavenkata; Danish, Mohammed Azam

Anesthesiologists are amongst the front line warriors in this COVID-19 pandemic. We need to change our preferences and practices to reduce the spread to healthcare workers and patients in the hospital. General anesthesia involves aerosol-generating procedures while ventilating and intubating the patients. Regional anesthesia maintains respiratory functions, circumvents airway instrumentation and helps to limit viral transmission. This makes a strong case to patronize regional anaesthesia practises whenever possible. Due to various limitations of diagnostic tests available, all patients can be treated as COVID-19 positive and necessary precautions are suggested to limit the transmission. The importance of a practise advisory is to clear the mist around the dos and don'ts to ensure clarity of thoughts leading to improved safety of both patient and health care professional. We propose clinical guidelines for regional anaesthesia practices in COVID-19 positive patient posted for surgery. Furthermore, current recommendations on confirming the COVID-19 negative status is referred. These features are subject to change further with time.