Is ıt safe to perform electıve gynecologıc surgery durıng the two peaks of COVID-19 pandemıc?

Kuru, Betul; Kale, Ahmet; Basol, Gulfem; Gundogdu, Elif Cansu; Yildiz, Gazi; Mat, Emre; Usta, Taner

PURPOSE In December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic started in China and spread around the World. Operations were postponed in most surgical clinics to reduce the risk of contamination and increase the number of beds available in hospitals. We investigate whether elective gynecologic surgery is safe or not under safety measures. METHODS 765 patients were operated on electively between March 15 and October 30 at our inpatient gynecology clinic. We took the SARS-CoV-2 Reverse Transcriptase (RT) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test of the nasopharyngeal swab before and after the surgery. Patients were questioned for COVID-19 symptoms by phone calls on the 7th , 15th , 30th and 60th days postoperatively. RESULTS The average age of patients was 45,6±11(19-81). Sixty-two (8,1%) operations were performed due to gynecologic malignancies. Three patients (0,39%) were detected as SARS-CoV-2 RT PCR positive within seven days after surgery. The patients did not need ICU admission or any further treatments. CONCLUSION Our study offers a novel perspective on elective surgery during a pandemic. The risk assessment of patients should be meticulously done and substantiated on objective variables. According to our study, in a carefully selected patient population, operating under appropriate precautions, elective gynecologic surgical procedures during the two peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic do not pose a risk to the patients.