When possible, delay of at least seven weeks after SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis should be sought; however, mortality rates higher for those with ongoing symptoms <\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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MONDAY, March 15, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Mortality is increased for patients undergoing surgery within six weeks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, according to a study published online March 9 in Anesthesia<\/em>.<\/p>\n Dmitri Nepogodiev, M.B.Ch.B., from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the optimal duration of planned delay before surgery in patients who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection in an international, multicenter study. Data were included for patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery during October 2020.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 3,127 of the 140,231 patients (2.2 percent) from 116 countries had a preoperative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. In patients without SARS-CoV-2, adjusted 30-day mortality was 1.5 percent. For those with a preoperative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, patients having surgery within zero to two, three to four, and five to six weeks of diagnosis had increased mortality (4.1, 3.9 and 3.6 percent, respectively; odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals], 3.22 [2.55 to 4.07], 3.03 [2.03 to 4.52], and 2.78 [1.64 to 4.71]). Mortality was similar to baseline for surgery performed at least seven weeks after SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis (1.5 percent; odds ratio, 1.02 [0.66 to 1.56]). After at least a seven-week delay in undertaking surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection, mortality was higher for those with ongoing symptoms compared with those whose symptoms had resolved or who had been asymptomatic (6.0 percent versus 2.4 and 1.3 percent, respectively). <\/p>\n “We found that risks of postoperative morbidity and mortality are greatest if patients are operated within six weeks of diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the authors write.<\/p>\n