Patient safety associated with the surgical treatment of bone and soft tissue tumours during the COVID-19 pandemic-results from an observational study at the Oxford Sarcoma Service.

Rajasekaran RB., Kotecha S., Whitwell D., Cosker TDA., Critchley P., Fries CA., Pigott D., Gibbons CLMH., Carr A.

PURPOSE: Deferring cancer surgery can have profound adverse effects including patient mortality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, departmental reorganisation and adherence to evolving guidelines enabled provision of uninterrupted surgical care to patients with bone and soft tissue tumours (BST) in need of surgery. We reviewed the outcomes of surgeries on BST during the first two months of the pandemic at one of the tertiary BST centres in the UK. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 12 March 2020 and 12 May 2020, 56 patients of a median age of 57 years (18-87) underwent surgery across two sites: index hospital (n = 27) and COVID-free facility (n = 29). Twenty-five (44.6%) patients were above the age of 60 years and 20 (35.7%) patients were in ASA III and ASA IV category. The decision to offer surgery was made in adherence with the guidelines issued by the NHS, BOOS and BSG. RESULTS: At a minimum follow-up of 30 days post-surgery, 54 (96.4%) patients were recovering well. Thirteen patients (23.2%) had post-operative complications which included four (7.1%) patients developing pulmonary embolism. The majority of complications (12/13 = 92.7%) occurred in ASA III and IV category patients. Four (7.1%) patients contracted COVID-19, of which three required escalation of care due to pulmonary complications and two (3.6%) died. Patients  60 years (p 

DOI

10.1007/s00264-020-04736-1

Type

Journal article

Journal

Int Orthop

Publication Date

09/2020

Volume

44

Pages

1853 - 1858

Keywords

Bone tumour, COVID-19, Cancer surgery, Sarcoma, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bone Neoplasms, COVID-19, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pandemics, Patient Safety, SARS-CoV-2, Sarcoma, Soft Tissue Neoplasms, Young Adult

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