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BACKGROUND: Although safe practice guidelines were issued by the Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society of India (OSSI) in the end of May 2020, surgeons have been in a dilemma about risk of subjecting patients to hospitalisation and bariatric surgery. This survey was conducted with the objective to evaluate the risk of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection in peri- and post-operative period after bariatric and metabolic surgery (BMS). METHODS: A survey with OSSI members was conducted from 20 July 2020 to 31 August 2020 in accordance with EQUATOR guidelines. Google Form was circulated to all surgeon members through E-mail and WhatsAppTM. In the second phase, clinical details were captured from surgeons who reported positive cases. RESULTS: One thousand three hundred and seven BMS were reported from 1 January 2020 to 15 July 2020. Seventy-eight per cent were performed prior to 31 March 2020 and 276 were performed after 1 April 2020. Of these, 13 (0.99%) patients were reported positive for COVID-19 in the post-operative period. All suffered from a mild disease and there was no mortality. Eighty-seven positive cases were reported from patients who underwent BMS prior to 31 December 2019. Of these, 82.7% of patients had mild disease, 13.7% of patients had moderate symptoms and four patients succumbed to COVID-19. CONCLUSION: BMS may be considered as a safe treatment option for patients suffering from clinically severe obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due care must be taken to protect patients and healthcare workers and all procedures must be conducted in line with the safe practice guidelines.
RESUMO
Aims:Stapler hemorrhoidopexy (SH) has evolved over time as a procedure of choice over conventional surgery due to less postoperative pain. Laser hemorrhoidoplasty (LH) is a novel procedure aimed at shrinking the terminal branches of hemorrhoidal arteries with fewer complications. The present study is aimed to compare these procedures (SH and LH).Study Design:Prospective comparative study.Place and Duration of Study:Patients operated for hemorrhoids at the Department of General, MI & Bariatric Surgery, Artemis Hospitals, Gurgaon from April 2018 to March 2019. Methodology:50 patients with grade II-III hemorrhoids were allocated to two groups: Stapler hemorrhoidopexy(SH) and Laser hemorrhoidoplasty (LH) with 25 patients in each group. Results were compared and patients were followed up for minimum period of 3months Results:The mean operative time was 24.6 min (LH) and 28.6 min (SH) (P=.122). The average blood loss was 8.32 ml (LH) and 11.64 ml (SH) (P <.05). The mean hospital stay 21.44 hours (LH) and 32.64 hours (SH) (P <.05). Mean postoperative pain score (VAS) at 12 hours was 2.64 (LH) and 4.76 (SH) (P <.05), at 24 hours was 1.88 (LH) and 3.6 (SH) (P <.05), at 1 week was 0.36 (LH) and 0.88 (SH) (P =.054) and at 3 months 0.04 (LH) and 0.12 (SH) (P =.53). One patient in LH (4%) had postoperative bleeding on 4th postoperative day. In SH group, 2 (8%) had severe postoperative pain with VAS > 8, requiring longer hospital stay, 2 (8%) had bleeding on the same day, 1(4%) had bleeding on follow up and 1 (4%) had recurrence. Conclusion:In terms of early postoperative pain and complications, LH offers better results as compared to SH. It was associated with a shorter hospital stay and earlyreturn to work. No significant complications were noted in LH compared to SH. LH is an extremely viable alternative to the popular SH for grade II-III hemorrhoids.