TY - JOUR T1 - SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the activity and professionals of a General Surgery and Digestive Surgery Service in a tertiary hospital JO - Cirugía Española (English Edition) T2 - AU - Álvarez Gallego,Mario AU - Gortázar de las Casas,Sara AU - Pascual Migueláñez,Isabel AU - Rubio-Pérez,Inés AU - Barragán Serrano,Cristina AU - Álvarez Peña,Estíbaliz AU - Díaz Domínguez,Joaquín SN - 21735077 M3 - 10.1016/j.cireng.2020.05.008 DO - 10.1016/j.cireng.2020.05.008 UR - https://www.elsevier.es/en-revista-cirugia-espanola-english-edition--436-articulo-sars-cov-2-pandemic-on-activity-professionals-S2173507720301095 AB - IntroductionThe rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection has led to a radical reorganization of healthcare resources. Surgical Departments need to adapt to this change. Patients and methodsWe performed a prospective descriptive observational study of the incidence of COVID-19 in patients and surgeons of a General Surgical Department in a high prevalence area, between the 1 st and 31 st of March 2020. ResultsPatients: The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in elective surgery patients was 7% (mean age 59.5 years). All survived. Of 36 patients who underwent emergency surgery, two of them were SARS-CoV-2 positive and one was clinically highly suspicious of COVID-19 (11.1%). All three patients died of respiratory failure (mean age 81 years). Surgeons: There were a total of 12 confirmed SARS-CoV-2+ cases among the surgical department staff (24.4%) (8 out of 34 consultants and 4 out of 15 residents). Healthcare activity: The average number of daily emergency surgical interventions declined from 3.6 in February to 1.16 in March. 42% of the patients who underwent emergency surgery had peritonitis upon presentation. ConclusionsThe fast pace of COVID-19 pandemia, should alert surgical departments of the need of adopting early measures to ensure the safety of patients and staff. ER -