Background: Surgeries in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) put medical staff at a high risk of infection. We report the anesthetic management and infection control of a mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patient who underwent exploratory laparotomy for suspected duodenal ulcer perforation.
Case: A 73-year-old man, mechanically ventilated for confirmed COVID-19, showed clinical and radiographic signs of a perforated duodenal ulcer, and he was transferred under sedation and intubation to a negative-pressure operating room. The operating and assistant staff wore personal protective equipment. High-efficiency particulate absorbing filters were inserted into the expiratory circuits of the anesthesia machine and portable ventilator. No participating staff contracted COVID-19, although the patient later died due to pneumonia.
Conclusions: This report can contribute to establishing clinical guidelines for the surgical management and operation room setting of COVID-19 patients.
Keywords: Anesthetics; COVID-19; Infection control; Medical staff; Personal protective equipment; SARS-CoV-2; Surgery.
Copyright © the Korean Society of Anesthesiologists, 2020.