Bariatric Surgery and COVID-19: a Change of Perspective in a New Phase of the Pandemic.

PURPOSE: The protective role of bariatric surgery (BS) against COVID-19 has been reported by several studies, showing, in the first pandemic waves, better outcome of the infection in patients that had undergone BS. With the virus progressive endemicity, BS benefits on COVID-19 clinical course could appear less evident, while COVID-19 effects on BS outcomes must be investigated. In this national multicentric cross-sectional study, we compared COVID-19 incidence and clinical course between a cohort of patients that had undergone BS (OP) and a cohort of candidates to BS (WS); moreover, we analyzed BS outcomes based on SARS-CoV-2 positivity/negativity. METHODS: From June to December 2021, 522 patients from five Italian referral centers were administered an 87-item telephonic questionnaire completing the analysis of electronic medical records. Demographics, COVID-19 "tested" incidence, suggestive symptoms and clinical outcome parameters of OP and WS were compared. BS outcomes parameters were compared between OP that developed the disease or not. RESULTS: COVID-19 incidence was the same in OP and WS, while symptoms and clinical course seemed milder in OP, with no data individually reaching statistical significance. OP who developed SARS-CoV-2 infection had higher excess weight loss than negative OP (66.8% ± 22.1 vs. 57.7% ± 22.8, p = 0.029). Positive OP had had gastric-bypass (RYGB/OAGB) more frequently than negative ones (38.4% vs. 18.2%, p = 0.025). CONCLUSION: With the disease becoming endemic, BS protective role against COVID-19 seems clinically less relevant. BS outcomes can be affected by COVID-19, thus imposing careful follow-up for positive patients, especially if undergoing gastric-bypass.

Open surgical cholecystostomy under local anaesthesia as salvage therapy of acute cholecystitis during the 4th COVID-19 wave in Northern Italy: experience from a rural hospital.

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak delayed interventions of elective surgery worldwide. In Italy, the first western country to be affected, 410000 operations formerly planned were cancelled with the beginning of the first wave. Symptomatic cholelithiasis represents one of the most common, benign medical conditions in the world leading the affected patients to general surgeons'attention; in 0.5% of cases gallstones (symptomatic or not) can complicate with acute lithiasic cholecystitis (ALC) whose universally acknowledged treatment of choice is laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Delaying in surgery of ALC can increase the rate of complications like severe ALC, acute cholangitis and sepsis. The 4th wave of COVID 19 in Northern Italy induced further stress on the healthcare system. In fact, the occurrence of difficult communication and delays in ALC patients transfer between first and second level hospitals lead to the re-emergence of obsolete surgical procedures. In our rural hospital, in fact, a 92 years old patient affected with ALC and several comorbidities was treated with a successful emergency surgical procedure of transperitoneal cholecistostomy in lieu of a radiological transperitoneal approach. Such a choice was dictated by the absence of an interventional radiology unit in our hospital as well as the unavailability of patient transfer to our central referral hub (the hospital of Parma) due to hospital overcrowding secondary to the 4th wave of COVID 19 pandemic.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among morbid obese individuals: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Vaccinations have dramatically impacted on the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As morbid obese (MO) individuals are at high risk for severe complications, their acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines is of certain public health interest. METHODS: We investigated the knowledge, attitudes and eventual acceptance of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination among MO individuals either in waiting list, or recipients of bariatric surgery from a reference center (Parma University Hospital) shortly before the inception of the Italian mass vaccination campaign (March 2021). Data were collected through a web-based questionnaire. Association of individual factors with acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was assessed by means of a logistic regression analysis with eventual calculation of adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) and corresponding 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: Adequate, general knowledge of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 was found in the majority of MO patients. High perception of SARS-CoV-2 risk was found in around 80% of participants (79.2% regarding its occurrence, 73.6% regarding its potential severity). Acceptance of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccination was reported by 65.3% of participants, and was more likely endorsed by MO patients who were likely to accept some sort of payment/copayment (aOR 5.783; 1.426; 23.456), or who were more likely towards a vaccination mandate (aOR 7.920; 1.995; 31.444). CONCLUSIONS: Around one third of the MO individuals among potential recipient of bariatric surgery exhibited some significant hesitancy towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and a rational approach may fail to capture and address specific barriers/motivators in this subset of individuals, stressing the importance for alternative interventions. (www.actabiomedica.it).