Anesthesia management of thoracic surgery in a patient with suspected/confirmed COVID-19: Interim Saudi Anesthesia Society guidelines

Abstract

The Saudi Anesthesia Society (SAS) has developed interim guidelines on perioperative care of COVID-19 patients who undergo surgery and anesthesia.[1] Patients with ' suspected/confirmed' COVID-19 might be scheduled for emergency thoracic procedures either during the acute or convalescence phases of the disease. There is a demanding need to develop the SAS recommendations on the perioperative care of thoracic surgery patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. There are no relevant publications on perioperative care of thoracic surgery in COVID-19 patients. These recommendations were developed from the previous experience of management of patients during the MERS-CoV outbreak in 2012-2013 and literature available on the general airway and anesthesia care for patients with COVID-19, SARS, MERS-CoV.