Open AccessAnesthesia management of ophthalmic surgery for patient with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 -Saudi Anesthesia Society guidelines-
Author(s) -
Nauman Ahmad,
Abdul Zahoor,
Abdulaziz Ahmad,
Abdelazeem El Dawlatly
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
saudi journal of anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.416
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1658-354X
pISSN - 0975-3125
DOI - 10.4103/sja.sja_260_20
Subject(s) - medicine , covid-19 , personal protective equipment , pandemic , specialty , intubation , airway management , health care , tracheal intubation , anesthesia , airway , intensive care medicine , medical emergency , outbreak , family medicine , disease , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , economic growth
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been declared a global pandemic. With a mortality rate reaching up to 5%, healthcare professionals treating patients with COVID-19 are at a significantly higher risk for exposure themselves. Given the rapidly progressing rate of COVID-19, there is an urgent need for developing guidelines within each specialty. This article discusses guidelines specifically for anesthesiologists dealing with ophthalmic surgeries with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. Anesthesiologists always work in the proximity of the patient's face while performing either ocular regional anesthesia or while managing the airway in the process of intubation/extubation. Within these guidelines, the emphasis is provided on thorough preoperative screening to identify COVID-19 patients and to prevent the exposure of healthcare staff by following standard personal protective equipment (PPE) precautions.