Abstract | BACKGROUND: Many hospitals postponed elective surgical care during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Some centers continued elective surgery, including esophageal cancer surgery, with the use of preoperative screening methods; however, there is no evidence supporting the safety of this strategy as postoperative outcomes after esophageal cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic have not yet been investigated. METHODS: RESULTS: The COVID-19 cohort consisted of 139 patients, versus 168 patients in the control cohort. There was no difference in the rate of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation (13.7% vs. 8.3%, p = 0.127) and number of pulmonary complications (32.4% vs. 29.9%, p = 0.646) between the COVID-19 cohort and the control cohort. Overall, postoperative morbidity and mortality rates were comparable between both cohorts. History taking and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used as preoperative screening methods to detect a possible severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in all centers. No patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 pre- or postoperatively. CONCLUSION:
Esophageal cancer surgery during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was not associated with an increase in pulmonary complications as no patients were diagnosed with COVID-19. Esophageal cancer surgery can be performed safely with the use of adequate preoperative SARS-CoV-2 screening methods.
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Authors | Alexander B J Borgstein, Stefanie Brunner, Masaru Hayami, Johnny Moons, Hans Fuchs, Wietse J Eshuis, Suzanne S Gisbertz, Christiane J Bruns, Philippe Nafteux, Magnus Nilsson, Wolfgang Schröder, Mark I van Berge Henegouwen |
Journal | Annals of surgical oncology
(Ann Surg Oncol)
Vol. 28
Issue 9
Pg. 4805-4813
(Sep 2021)
ISSN: 1534-4681 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 33830357
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study)
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Copyright | © 2021. The Author(s). |
Topics |
- Adult
- COVID-19
- Esophageal Neoplasms
(epidemiology, surgery)
- Humans
- Pandemics
- Postoperative Complications
(epidemiology)
- SARS-CoV-2
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