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The objective of these guidelines is to produce a framework to facilitate the partial and gradual resumption of intervention activity in the context of the COVID pandemic. We present suggestions for how the risk of transmission by and to anaesthetists can be minimised and how personal protective equipment policies relate to COVID pandemic context.
The epidemic situation has led to a drastic reduction in hospital activities. The evolution of the pandemic allows us to resume some of these activities. Beyond this resumption, the persistence of the virus defines a new situation that will have to be taken into account for the care of patients in the coming months. The size and type of activities that will resume depend on many factors outside the organisation of care within our establishments. Finally, it seems important to point out that the epidemic situation is fluctuating not only in time but also in space, so it will be necessary to modulate the recommendations according to the region of exercise and the incidence of COVID cases.
The choice of specific measures to be implemented for the management of a patient in this context will be guided by the risk associated with the patient and the risk associated with the procedure. The group has endeavoured to produce a minimum number of recommendations to highlight the strengths to be retained in the 7 predefined areas.
The basic rules of universal good medical practice in perioperative medicine were considered to be known and were therefore excluded from the recommendations. The approach used to draw up these recommendations was deliberately pragmatic and logical. Initially, the organising committee defined the issues to be addressed with the coordinators, and then designated the experts in charge of each of them.
