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Surgery shortly after suffering COVID-19 means a higher risk to the patient’s life, claims an international study that sees a higher death rate among COVID patients.
– And what leads to mortality are pulmonary complications, says Malin Sund, a professor at Umeå University.
“Whenever you have surgery, there is a certain effect on lung function afterward, but tolerance is even lower for the group that had covid,” says Malin Sund, professor of surgery at Umeå University. Stock Photography.
Among those who underwent surgery within two weeks of receiving a COVID diagnosis, the death rate was 4.1 percent, which can be compared to 1.5 percent among COVID-free patients. .
The longer time passed since the illness, the more the mortality rate decreased after the procedure.
– At seven weeks, it is at the same level as in a patient who has not been infected with COVID-19, says Malin Sund, professor of surgery at Umeå University, but notes:
– Then it should be symptom free.
The study has shown that patients with symptoms after seven weeks have a higher mortality rate than those without symptoms.
– In that group, you should consider another treatment or wait even longer if possible. That’s where the risk remains, she says.
Umeå University and Norrland University Hospital are involved in the study, which was carried out in 116 countries with more than 140,000 patients. And what makes researchers see a higher death rate is related to lung complications: oxygenation problems, blood clots, pneumonia.
– The covid infection itself produces a fairly strong lung effect and some seem to have long-term problems after overcoming the most acute phase. Whenever she undergoes surgery, there is some effect on later lung function, but tolerance is even lower for the group that had covid, she says.
It is important to bring the results of the study to doctors who are planning an operation with patients who have had covid, believes Malin Sund.
– Then you need to do a risk assessment: Is it worth taking the biggest risk? Some surgeries can wait, but sometimes it’s a cancer that can’t. Then you have to assess whether the risk of that disease exceeds the risk of a complication related to surgery, he says, adding that individual evaluations should be performed.
In case of infection, there is generally an increased risk of surgery. The study has not investigated how Covid-19 differs from other infections.
– During an ongoing infection, you should not have surgery unless it is an emergency. But once it has healed, you usually think it is safe after a few weeks. But here it seems like it takes longer to recover, says Malin Sund.
About the study
The study covers more than 140,000 patients in 116 countries who underwent surgery in October 2020. Just over 3,000 of them had had COVID-19.
Umeå University and Norrland University Hospital are participating in the study.
Almost a thousand patients from nine different hospitals in Sweden are included in the study.
Source: Umeå University
