TY - JOUR
T1 - Diagnosis of COVID-19 and the bariatric surgery population
T2 - a single center experience
AU - Romero-Velez, Gustavo
AU - Pereira, Xavier
AU - Skendelas, John Paul
AU - Costinett, Shauna
AU - Grosser, Rachel
AU - Creange, Collin
AU - Rodriguez-Quintero, Jorge Humberto
AU - Munoz Flores, Fernando
AU - Moran-Atkin, Erin
AU - Choi, Jenny
AU - Lima, Diego L.
AU - Camacho, Diego R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Background: While many cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are mild, patients with underlying medical conditions such as hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), older age, and morbid obesity are at higher risk of hospitalization and death. These conditions are characteristic of patients eligible for bariatric surgery, many of whom underwent weight loss procedures in the months prior to cessation of elective surgery in March 2020. The effects of the virus on these high-risk patients who had increased healthcare exposure in the early days of the pandemic are currently unknown. Objectives: To describe the experience of patients who underwent bariatric surgery during the early evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study including patients from a single center who underwent bariatric surgery from January 1st, 2020 to March 18th, 2020. A database was created to analyze patients’ demographics, operative variables, and postoperative outcomes. All patients were contacted and a telephone survey was completed to inquire about COVID-19 exposure, symptoms, and testing 30 days before and after surgery. Results: A total of 190 patients underwent bariatric surgery during the study period. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy was the most common procedure (71.6%). One hundred seventy-eight patients (93.7%) completed the telephone survey. Postoperatively, 19 patients (10.7%) reported COVID-19 compatible symptoms, and six patients (3.4%) went on to test positive for COVID-19. There were no COVID-19-related hospital admissions or mortalities in this population. Conclusions: Morbidly obese patients are at high risk of severe disease secondary to COVID-19, and those undergoing bariatric surgery during the evolution of the pandemic reported symptoms at a rate of 10.7% 30 days after the surgery. While none of these patients suffered severe COVID-19 disease, the temporal relationship of their symptomatology and increased exposure to the healthcare system as a result of their surgery suggest an increased risk of disease with elective surgery.
AB - Background: While many cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are mild, patients with underlying medical conditions such as hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), older age, and morbid obesity are at higher risk of hospitalization and death. These conditions are characteristic of patients eligible for bariatric surgery, many of whom underwent weight loss procedures in the months prior to cessation of elective surgery in March 2020. The effects of the virus on these high-risk patients who had increased healthcare exposure in the early days of the pandemic are currently unknown. Objectives: To describe the experience of patients who underwent bariatric surgery during the early evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study including patients from a single center who underwent bariatric surgery from January 1st, 2020 to March 18th, 2020. A database was created to analyze patients’ demographics, operative variables, and postoperative outcomes. All patients were contacted and a telephone survey was completed to inquire about COVID-19 exposure, symptoms, and testing 30 days before and after surgery. Results: A total of 190 patients underwent bariatric surgery during the study period. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy was the most common procedure (71.6%). One hundred seventy-eight patients (93.7%) completed the telephone survey. Postoperatively, 19 patients (10.7%) reported COVID-19 compatible symptoms, and six patients (3.4%) went on to test positive for COVID-19. There were no COVID-19-related hospital admissions or mortalities in this population. Conclusions: Morbidly obese patients are at high risk of severe disease secondary to COVID-19, and those undergoing bariatric surgery during the evolution of the pandemic reported symptoms at a rate of 10.7% 30 days after the surgery. While none of these patients suffered severe COVID-19 disease, the temporal relationship of their symptomatology and increased exposure to the healthcare system as a result of their surgery suggest an increased risk of disease with elective surgery.
KW - Bariatric surgery
KW - COVID-19
KW - Gastric bypass
KW - Laparoscopic
KW - Roux-en-Y gastric bypass
KW - Sleeve gastrectomy
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U2 - 10.1007/s00464-020-08249-1
DO - 10.1007/s00464-020-08249-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 33492513
AN - SCOPUS:85099751256
SN - 0930-2794
VL - 36
SP - 149
EP - 154
JO - Surgical endoscopy
JF - Surgical endoscopy
IS - 1
ER -
