The impact of COVID-19 on proctologic practice in Italy
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CORRESPONDENCE
The impact of COVID‑19 on proctologic practice in Italy G. Gallo1 · A. Sturiale2 · V. De Simone3 · G. L. Di Tanna4 · F. Bianco5 · R. Perinotti6 · I. Giani7 · U. Grossi8 Received: 3 July 2020 / Accepted: 30 July 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Dear Sir, The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a major challenge for healthcare systems worldwide [1]. In Italy, colorectal surgery has been strongly affected [2–4]. The Italian Units of Coloproctology (UCPs) are tertiary referral centers affiliated with the Italian Society of Colorectal Surgery (SICCR) and are 56 in total. While the ProctoLock 2020 survey [5] sought to snapshot the global status of proctologic practice across 6 world regions during the pandemic, we want to report in this letter the impact of COVID-19 on the Italian UCPs (Supplementary Tables 1 and 2) in accordance with the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (the CHERRIES statement) [6]. From a total of 1050 respondents worldwide, 299 (28.5%) came from Italy. Among these, 57 (19.1%) were UCP representatives, of whom 28 (49.1%) practiced in the North, 10 (17.6%) in the Center and 19 (33.3%) in the South and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10151-020-02319-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * G. Gallo [email protected] 1
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Catanzaro, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, Italy
2
Proctology and Pelvic Floor Clinical Centre, Cisanello University Hospital, Pisa, Italy
3
Proctology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario ‘A. Gemelli’ IRCCS, Rome, Italy
4
Faculty of Medicine, The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
5
S. Leonardo Hospital, Castellammare Di Stabia, Naples, Italy
6
Colorectal Surgical Unit, Department of Surgery, Infermi Hospital, Biella, Italy
7
SOSD Proctologia USL Toscana Centro, Prato, Italy
8
IV Surgery Unit, Treviso Regional Hospital, DISCOG, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Islands (Fig. 1). Most respondents were men (91%), with a mean age of 57 years, mainly working in non-academic teaching hospitals (48%), where a dedicated proctologist was available (79%). Compared to sexually transmitted disease (STD), dedicated pathways for pelvic floor disorders (PFD) were more frequently available (39% and 65%, respectively). More than a half of respondents amended the surgical informed consent for both COVID-19 positive (N = 34 [60%]) and negative patients (N = 32 [56%]), by mentioning the higher risks of in-hospital infection and morbidity. UCP representatives from the Northern regions were more likely to report that personal protective equipment (PPE) was readily available. Twenty-three (40%) respondents declared they had experience with patients refusing surgery due to the fear of getting infected. Twenty-five (44%) respondents had yet to reschedule patients waiting for surgery or outpatient visit at the time o
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