Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of India (OSSI) Recommendations for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Aggarwal, Sandeep; Mahawar, Kamal; Khaitan, Manish; Raj, Praveen; Wadhawan, Randeep; Dukkipati, NandaKishore; Kular, Kuldeepak S; Prasad, Arun; Bhasker, Aparna Govil; Soni, Vandana; Madhok, Brijesh; Baig, Sarfaraz; Palaniappan, Raj; Shivaram, H. V.; Goel, Deep; Bindal, Vivek; Saggu, Sukhvinder; Shrivastava, Rajesh; Shah, Sumeet; Dhorepatil, Shrihari; Khullar, Rajesh

Bariatric and metabolic surgery (BMS), the only effective option for patients with obesity with or without comorbidities, has been stopped temporarily due to the ongoing novel corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there has been a recent change in the governmental strategy of dealing with this virus from ‘Stay at Home’ to ‘Stay Alert’ in many countries including India. A host of health services including elective surgeries are being resumed. In view of the possibility of resumption of BMS in near future, Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of India (OSSI) constituted a committee of experienced surgeons to give recommendations about the requirements as well as precautions to be taken to restart BMS with emphasis on safe delivery and high-quality care.