Ann Clin Surg | Volume 1, Issue 3 | Research Article | Open Access
Abdul Syed1*, Rajab Khan1 and Abdalla Al-Zawi AS2,3
1Department of Surgery, Southend University Hospital, Essex, UK
2Basildon & Thurrock University Hospital, Essex, UK
3Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK
*Correspondance to: Abdul Syed
Fulltext PDFIntroduction: Once COVID-19 pandemic has been declared in March 2020, the health care organizations started to adapt new polices to face this dynamic challenge and the healthcare professionals had been trained rapidly to implement the new plans. Aim: To illustrate the emergency surgical care provided during COVID pandemic and to measure the outcomes. Material and Methods: A total of 1,333 patients were seen during the study period and included in the cohort. Of these, 782 patients were in study Group A (COVID-19 time) and 551 patients belong to study Group B (pre-COVID-19 era. Results: In the COVID-19 time here is a net increase in the total number of the patients seen in the unit by about 30% as compared with the same period in during the pre-COVID-19 era. Referrals redirected from SAU (Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit) is considerably smaller in Group A (3.2% compared to 27.2% in Group B) as ESAC (Emergency Surgical Ambulatory Clinic) reviews all the A&E referrals primarily. A higher number of patients has been referred from A&E patients were reviewed in Group A (86.6% compared to 50% in Group B), however proportionately more discharges occurred in Group A (81.9% compared to 66.5% in Group B). Conclusion: Surgical Care Unit re-organization is needed and suggested to ensure the delivery of surgical patient's management with a high standard of care during the COVID-19 pandemic; this can be done through fair and appropriate allocation of resources according to the need. Adaptation of alternative safe treatment protocols as conservative treatment rather than surgery is recommended in those patients who can have surgical treatment be omitted safely.
COVID-19; Abdominal pain; Non-operative management; Surgical ambulatory care;Covid-19; Covid; Corona Virus; Coronavirus disease 2019
Syed A, Khan R, Abdalla Al-Zawi AS. Role of our Emergency Surgical Ambulatory Clinic in COVID-19 Pandemic. Ann Clin Surg. 2020; 1(3): 1011.