We all are facing the global pandemic of COVID-19 head on since past many months. There have been tremendous losses both in terms of human lives and finances. Although a ray of hope is visible as a successful vaccine is on the way, it may take a long period of time for the situation to return to normal.
Due to this pandemic, there has been a huge burden on healthcare infrastructure with elective surgical procedures taking the major brunt. People with ailments like gallstones, hernia, piles and other benign conditions requiring surgical treatment are being given long dates for their operations which increases their morbidity.
Treatment for such conditions can be safely carried out in COVID free centres taking all due precautions. Before the surgery, the patients are tested for COVID-19 by RT-PCR along with their other routine tests. The number of attendants is limited to one and visitors are not allowed to minimise the human interaction. Patients are provided private rooms after proper sanitisation and their bedding and clothes are autoclaved before usage. Similar precautions are followed in the operation theatre with the number cases per day being limited to one or two with interval between the cases to allow disinfection. The length of hospitalisation is curtailed with many procedures being done in the day care setting to minimise the exposure to the hospital environment. After discharge from the hospital, the patient is advised for home quarantine for a period of 8-10 days and carry out the normal routine thereafter.