Neurosurgery in the period of COVID19 - TIBSS

As of 15 May 2020, novel coronavirus or COVID-19 has infected approximately 4.45 million people globally reaching the death toll of 302k according to the Worldometers But still, there seems no end to this heinous devastation that has left the entire world in jitters.

The publicly declared pandemic has raised significant challenges for everyone everywhere in the world. The entire medical fraternity is fighting against the virus, but it seems that the virus is going to stay for a long time.

With imposed lockdowns all over, social distancing in practicing, aborted travel, telemedicine use, and countless other effects, one such effect has been observed in every department of our hospital. If you are a a patient suffering from Neurological issues or had planned for a neuro-surgical intervention, here’s what you need to know about the impact of Covid-19 on neurosurgery.

Impact of Covid-19 on Neurosurgery

Whether you are carrying the virus or not if you’re undergoing any surgery or admitted under any emergency, you ought to get yourself examined for the infection first. That would mark the beginning of the effects that Covid-19 has put on our lives.

As recorded and noted, typical clinical manifestations of Covid-19 positive patients are fever, sore throat, cough, and dyspnea. However, several patients having Neurological symptoms like, dizziness, and headaches also carried the virus. Earlier, the Neurosurgeons were only worried about performing a successful surgery without any complication or risk.

But now drastic changes have occurred which can be listed as the following:

• The the severity of your condition will decide whether you need an emergency surgical intervention or it can wait because the COVID era aims at preserving its resources like doctors, operation theatres, instrumentation, and much more for the ones in actual need.
• Patients tested negative for the virus and less severe neurology issues will have to wait for the surgery. In contrast, patients tested positive and less severe health problems will undergo surgical intervention taking every precautionary measure like isolated rooms and independent recovery rooms.
• And the patients requiring urgent hand-on care due to the Neurological the issue will immediately undergo the surgical treatment, whether tested positive or negative for the virus.
• The medical staff or the Neurosurgeons will be subjected to a high risk of catching the infection while performing the surgery on the patient, so they also need to practice all the preventive measures strictly
• Neurosurgery for positive COVID-19 patients will take place in isolated operation rooms and the patient’s hospital stay will be until he recovers from both the virus and surgery.

Precautionary measures

To fight the virus without obstructing medical services here are some specific precautionary measures that are in practice at our hospital.

• We are making sure that we are resourceful enough to make PPEs, masks, ventilators, eye shields, and sanitization available to our every doctor and the medical staff along with well-equipped Covid-19 operation theatres.
• Elective surgeries are postponed, and semi-urgent surgeries are taking place after reassuring the availability of operation theatres and Neurosurgeons
• Also, positively tested patients are treated in separate isolated rooms and have the least contact until they recover from the virus and the surgery.
• Telemedicine is the emerging new technology and will root itself in the Covid-19 era. It is already in use at our hospital and proving to be the optimal alternative of regular checkups as online consultations are reducing the risk of catching infection for both patients and doctors. We make sure to provide medical assistance to each and every patient.
• Our hospital is resourceful to ensure the rapid detection of Covid-19 with adequate thermal scanners and detection kits.
• We ensure that our doctors are not only for wearing full gear PPEs for surgical interventions but also while attending the patients for checkups.
• Also, we are paying close attention to all the doctors and assistant staff that are involved in surgical intervention to keep a check for Covid-19 infection.

Wrapping up

Amid fight against COVID-19, medical fraternity and common people have been impacted, causing several alterations to the provision of Neurosurgical service, yet the pandemic has only begun!
Taking every preventive measure, the expert Neurosurgeons at TIBSS are dedicated to serving the patients suffering from neurological issues.

We are learning critically essential lessons from this experience:

• First, the dynamic nature of the fight against the virus demands a clear line of information dissemination.
• Second, the Neurosurgeons accompanied by every other surgeon share a duty in public health, and for their noble cause of work, we ought to help them to help us.
• Third, everyone needs to keep their morale high.

The fight against COVID-19 will be prolonged, and resilience and teamwork are imperative in the coming days. Together we can, and we will fight this virus by taking every measure that we require to take.