The Surgeon’s Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the Initial Peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Orleans

Abstract

Surgeons who care for patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection represent a unique population of health care providers whose risk of infection has not been elucidated. The objective of this study was to examine SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among surgeons who cared for patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to other employees within our health care system and also the general public of New Orleans. 105 surgeons at our facilities provided direct surgical care to patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection and underwent voluntary antibody testing. 2/105 (1.9% CI .2%-6.7%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. 13 343 hospital employees underwent antibody testing and 1066/13 343 (8.0% CI 7.5%-8.5%) tested positive (1.9% vs. 8.0%; P = .03). We saw a significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among surgeons who directly cared for infected patients versus other hospital employees. When compared to community seroprevalence (6.9% CI 6.0%-8.0%), seroprevalence among our surgeons is also significantly lower (1.9% vs. 6.9%; P = .04).

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on hand surgery: a FESSH perspective

“…With the discomfort associated with prolonged use of N95 masks, and the difficulty of combining the use of goggles with surgical loupes, hand surgeons were often less protected when performing surgery. This may have caused additional stress, even though the risk of infection for surgeons caring for COVID-19 positive patients had been reported to be very low (Vu et al, 2021). As the access to operating theatres was restricted and beds for inpatient stay were limited because of missing personnel and resources, hand surgeons soon realized they needed to reorganize their practice if they wanted to restart their surgical work.…”