Covid-19
The COVID-19 pandemic was a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic on 11th March 2020. As of 27 April 2024, the pandemic has caused 7,045,569[ confirmed deaths, making it the fifth-deadliest pandemic or epidemic in history. Our world in data
Surgical Prioritisation
The FSSA published and updated its guidance on surgical prioritisation 28th january 2020.
https://fssa.org.uk/covid-19_documents.aspx.
The FSSA updated its guidance on 28th January 2022.
This guidance also recommends that:
- Elective surgical patients should have been pre-assessed, pre-habilitated as required and, ideally, fully vaccinated at least 2 weeks before their planned procedure.
- Patients on waiting lists shall be regularly reviewed to assess the need for re-prioritising.
- General anaesthesia should be avoided for at least 7 weeks after Covid-19 infection.
| P1a <24hrs |
Vascular injury or occlusion, Major haemorrhage, Ruptured AAA, Diabetic foot sepsis and Arterial thrombolysis for ALI |
| P1b <72hrs |
Acute on chronic limb ischaemia, Symptomatic carotid disease, Amputation (ALI/CLTI), venous thrombolysis for phlegmasia, Symptomatic AAA, and Acute Type B aortic dissection |
| P2 <1mth |
Reyvascularisation for CLTI, AAA > 5.5cm and Diabetic foot surgery |
| P3 <3mth |
- |
| P4 Elective |
Varicose vein surgery, Thoracic outlet surgery, Claudication procedures and Uncomplicated AVM |
Resumption of Vascular Surgery
GIRFT and the Vascular Society published guidance on resumption of services in June 2020.
National Joint Vascular Implementation Board