Changes in surgical practice by surgical residents and consultants during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey

M Kamran Azam,Asad Ameer,Muhammad Rehan,Warda Tahir,Kashif Nawaz,Nishant Singh,Usama Aziz,Nabila Talat,Muhammad Bilal Mirza

doi:10.46831/jpas.v1i1.33

M Kamran Azam, Asad Ameer + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.46831/jpas.v1i1.33

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Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, surgical practice is greatly changed as a strategy to prevent infection to the health care workers. This study was done to see what changes have been made in the surgical practice by the surgical consultants and residents in various surgical disciplines. Methods: A Survey form was developed on the “Google Forms” application and distributed to surgical consultants and residents. The submission was received online during May 2020. The collected data were entered and analyzed using SPSS V.23. Qualitative data were presented as frequencies and percentages. Quantitative data were presented as mean and standard deviation. Results: Overall, 272 consultants and residents from 45 teaching hospitals from Pakistan and around the world participated in the survey. Among the participants, 100 (36.8%) were surgical consultants and 172 (63.2%) were surgical residents. About 42% of participants were not performing elective surgeries during this pandemic of COVID-19 but almost all participants were performing emergency surgeries (93%). Over 60% of the respondents admitted that their practice is either reduced to more than 50% or completely shut down during this pandemic. Over 80% stated that their training activities were compromised due to the pandemic. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected surgical practice both in the public and corporate sectors. Elective surgeries are affected the most in addition to the suspension of training activities of the residents.

Highlights

Pandemics have many times afflicted the world.[1,2,3] In December 2019, another pandemic originated from Wuhan- a province of China, caused by the novel coronavirus.[3]
This study looked at the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of surgical consultants and residents in various surgical disciplines
Organizations like Public Health England (PHE), WHO, and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have recommended the use of PPE for procedures on patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.[8,18,19] In this survey, we found that 57% of participants were using N95 masks while 66% were using surgical masks while operating on these patients

Summary

Introduction

Pandemics have many times afflicted the world.[1,2,3] In December 2019, another pandemic originated from Wuhan- a province of China, caused by the novel coronavirus.[3] WHO declared Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 1st February 2020. Millions of human beings are affected and many of those have died by this disease.[4] Pakistan declared its first COVID-19 case on 26th February 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, surgical practice is greatly changed as a strategy to prevent infection to the health care workers. This study was done to see what changes have been made in the surgical practice by the surgical consultants and residents in various surgical disciplines

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion