When Are You Allowed to Get Surgery After Having COVID-19?
For many, elective and non-emergency surgeries were put off by the pandemic. Still more are set aside after the patient contracts COVID-19 in the interim. According to Medscape, a third of nearly 600,000 hysterectomies in the United States is done by laparoscope, which is just an example of how surgeries are becoming less and less invasive. There is still worry over how surgical treatments impact those with the virus. If you’re wondering when you may be allowed to have surgery after having COVID-19, read on.
COVID-19 Exposure Precautions
According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, if you live with someone or have a family member that has COVID-19 and you’ve been exposed, the Centers for Disease Control recommend that patients should stay home for 14 days after the exposure and maintain the social distancing 6-foot rule around anyone. They state to monitor for any symptoms of the infection (such as cough and fever), take advantage of one-time-use aids like disposable garments, and avoid anyone at high risk. Based on CDC guidelines, any patient that has had exposure to the virus should wait two weeks minimum before scheduling an elective surgical treatment.
How Long to Wait After Confirmed COVID-19?
If you have definitely tested positive for the COVID-19 infection, you must demonstrate that you are not positive and have recovered from the illness prior to scheduling surgery. Patients will be assumed to be infectious until one day past the fever has gone without aid of medications and 10 days past the first day of symptoms. If the patient is immunocompromised, then it is one day past fever resolution without medications and 20 days past the first day of symptoms.
Elective surgery timing suggestions from the ASA-APSF Joint Statement on Elective Surgery and Anesthesia for Patients After COVID-19 Infection journal article state that it should be a month out for symptom-less patients that only had a mild infection, six weeks for patients that had symptoms but were not hospitalized, 8-10 weeks for anyone that has a compromised immune system or had a hospitalization, and 12+ weeks for those that were in the ICU.
COVID-19 changed the way everyone interacts in the world, and the hospital setting is no different. The landscape of healthcare is changing to evolve with new threats, and it’s vital to stay vigilant. If you’re in need of medical equipment such as disposable garments or face shields, contact us at Sky Medical. We are proud to offer one of the most comprehensive medical inventories in the industry,
