Low risk of COVID-19 infection in an ambulatory gastrointestinal endoscopy center in Argentina

Tawil, J.; Libertucci, J.; Caldelari, A. A.; Banchero, I.; Canseco, S.; Figueredo, R.; Garcia, M.; Machado, C.; Del Arbol, V.; Sánchez, C.; Verdu, E. F.; Cerisoli, C.; Caro, L.

Background and Objectives. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns have been raised regarding the risk of infection to both healthcare staff and patients during gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures. Given the im-portance of performing routine endoscopic procedures to an individual’s future health, we sought to estimate the risk of COVID-19 infection for healthcare staff and patients undergoing endoscopic studies at an ambulatory endoscopy center during the pandemic. Material and Methods. This is a prospective(and) analytical cohort study conducted in an ambulatory gastroenterology center located in the Au-tonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Patients undergoing different endoscopic procedures were evaluated for COVID-19 between April 14 and August 31, 2020. COVID-19 was also evaluated in all healthcare and associated staff during the same time period. The risk (cumu-lative incidence) of acquiring COVID-19 in all patients and staff was calculated. Results. Between April 14 and August 31, 2020, procedures were performed in 3,745 patients with a mean age of 51.12 years;2,102 (56.18%) were male and 1,643 (43.82%) were female. Follow-up was completed in 3,492 patients, 18 of whom tested positive for COVID-19 standing for an incidence of 0.52% (95%CI 0.31 – 0.81%). Six (5.45%) out of 110 staff members were infected with COVID-19 (1 endoscopist, 4 endoscopy assistants and 1 administrative staff member). In this group, the incidence of positive tests for COVID-19 was 5.45% (95%CI: 2.03 – 11.50%). The increased rates of positive cases among our patients and healthcare professionals were respectively 7.9 and 23.6 times lower than in general pop-ulation. Conclusion. During the study period, the propor-tion of COVID-19 infections in our ambulatory specialized in gastrointestinal endoscopy was low and much lower than that in the general population for both patients and health-care professionals. Endoscopic procedures undertaken at this center were low risk, likely due to strict compliance with es-tablished pandemic protocols. Future studies should compare the risk of infection in the hospital setting.