Introdução: a pandemia provocada pelo 2019 Novel Coronavírus (COVID-19) provocou um desafio global de saúde pública, com repercussões em diversos setores da sociedade. As práticas médicas necessitaram adaptar-se no atendimento ao doente portador do COVID-19 ou suspeito. Métodos: realizou-se pesquisa bibliográfica de publicações e de diretrizes de sociedades médicas em relação às abordagens cirúrgicas de emergência nesta atual pandemia. Resultados: o material bibliográfico ainda é escasso, indefinido e de baixa evidência, mas são adequados neste momento inicial de enfrentamento do COVID-19 no Brasil. Conclusão: para reduzir o risco de contaminação dos profissionais de saúde, as técnicas e decisões cirúrgicas precisam adaptar-se ao cenário de pandemia do COVID-19.

. Renal carcinoma is considered the most lethal of urological neoplasms 3 .Its incidence is continually increasing worldwide. In the United States, for example, the incidence of new cases rose from ten to 15 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year in the last 20 years 4 . In Brazil, the described incidence -considering the high rates of national underreporting -varies from seven to ten cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year in more developed areas, with lower rates in less developed regions 5 . According to the first National Study on Kidney Cancer in Brazil, the disease is more common in men (59%) and Caucasians (79%), with a mean age of 59 years 6 .The clear cell variant is the most common subtype, accounting for 75% of renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Based on morphological, histochemical and cytogenetic aspects, renal carcinoma does not constitute a single neoplasm, but a group comprising four main tumor subtypes: clear cells, papillary type I, papillary type II and chromophobe, with incidence of 75%, 5%, 10% and 5%, respectively. Among these, clear-cell RCC is the one that displays the most aggressive behavior 7 .There is great heterogeneity in renal cancer regarding both age, histological subtype, degree of differentiation or staging. This fact justifies the great clinical importance of this disease and the search for knowledge for a better clinical and surgical approach. About 75% of renal cancer cases occur in individuals