How Long Will Your Elective Surgery Be Delayed?
Across the country, as the number of COVID-19 cases grows, healthcare providers are making tough decisions about which treatments should be prioritized and which ones should be delayed. This includes elective surgeries – procedures that are planned in advance and do not require urgent medical attention.
Updated Recommendations: Postpone Electoral Proceedings
In a recent statement, the American College of Surgeons published guidelines for elective procedures. As they note, although “some cases may be postponed indefinitely, the vast majority of completed cases are due to progressive disease (eg, cancer, vascular disease and organ failure) that will continue to progress at a variable rate depending on the specific disease.”
To talk about what this might mean for patients, we spoke to Alan Lumsden , M.D. who is the head of cardiovascular surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital , via email.
Some conditions, such as aneurysms, heart attacks, and stroke, are urgently needed, Lumsden notes. Other procedures, such as removing varicose veins, are strictly optional and may be delayed indefinitely.
Some procedures fall into the gray area
In addition, there are situations for which there is no definite right or wrong answer. “There are a lot of cases that fall into this gray area that certainly need to be addressed, but they can be postponed a little,” Lumsden said. Examples include removal of the tumor, which can probably be delayed for several weeks without much risk, but will continue to progress.
“We’re trying to balance the risk of postponing the procedure versus the risk of continuing,” Lumsden said. Some of these factors include the risk of infection, be it patients who get sick while in the hospital or patients who might infect others. Given that a person can spread COVID-19 without showing symptoms, doctors take it very seriously. The availability of intensive care beds in the event of a postoperative complication is also a significant factor.
In some cases, you can wait a couple of weeks or a month, but waiting for three or four months can cause serious complications. In such cases, making a decision is a little more difficult because doctors cannot predict what the situation will be then. The risk is that if the patient’s condition progresses, they may need surgery at a time when hospitals are even more in need of resources.
Weighing the risks: now or later
So if this is a situation where a patient can wait a couple of weeks before surgery but cannot wait a couple of months, then doctors should weigh the risk of having surgery now versus having to have surgery in a couple of months. when there may be more patients who need help.
“We really don’t know when the normal surgery schedule will resume,” Lumsden said. But, as Lumsden notes, while patients have many questions and concerns, most understand.
“Patients always ask how long it will be delayed,” Lumsden said. “The honest answer right now is” We don’t know. “