Results of preoperative SARS-CoV-2 testing in the coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

Background: Surgery is challenging during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the preoperative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing in elective and emergency surgery and to calculate the patient contacts during hospital stay. Materials and methods: All surgeries defined by the German procedural classification (starting with a 5) from 1 June until 29 November 2020 were retrospectively evaluated regarding the preoperative SARS-CoV‑2 nasopharyngeal swab test. The results were then divided in emergency and elective surgeries. To show the personal contacts of the patients in a university hospital, we calculated the patient pathway within the department of urology and urosurgery for April 2020. Therefor we used the electronic patient records. Results: Altogether 7745 surgical procedures in 5985 patients were performed, whereby 39 (0.5%) SARS-CoV‑2 tests were positive. 2833 (37%) surgical procedures were emergency cases and 4912 (63%) were elective procedures. 25 (0.9%) of the emergency group and 14 (0.3%) of the elective surgeries had a positive SARS-CoV‑2 test. The average number of contacts in the patient room was 12.83 (0–50) and 84.22 (0–249) at the ward level, not counting contacts with the clinic staff. Conclusions: Nearly 1% of the preoperative SARS-CoV‑2 tests of either emergency or elective surgeries tested positive in the 6 months prior to November 2020. Although the risk of undetected SARS-CoV‑2 infection appears to be low in terms of costs and personnel, preoperative screening is useful in high-risk areas to ensure further necessary surgeries, especially concerning cancer patients and to prevent virus spread in a hospital.