Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemia

Abstract

In conjunction with diagnosis of the first COVID-19 case in Turkey, the World Health Organization declared the infection as a pandemia. Following this declaration and the directive of the Turkish Ministry of Health, all university, state and private hospitals started preparations for the fight against the disease. High-capacity tertiary referral centers in Istanbul took initiative in re-designing their services to organize effective triage systems and separate contaminated areas. As many patients infected with COVID-19 virus were expected to develop pulmonary problems, most of the anesthesia work-force was directed to help manage intensive care units. This fact, together with contamination risks, primarily affected the surgical departments and necessitated planned surgical operations to be postponed. This article details the measures taken to manage surgical patients during the pandemia in Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University.