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Review
. 2020 Jun-Jul;98(6):310-319.
doi: 10.1016/j.ciresp.2020.04.009. Epub 2020 Apr 11.

COVID-19: Key Concepts for the Surgeon

[Article in English, Spanish]
Inés Rubio-Pérez  1 , Josep M Badia  2 , Marta Mora-Rillo  3 , Alejandro Martín Quirós  4 , Julio García Rodríguez  5 , Jose M Balibrea  6 ; con la colaboración del grupo Cirugía-AEC-COVID-19; Grupo colaborativo AEC-COVID-19
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

COVID-19: Key Concepts for the Surgeon

[Article in English, Spanish]
Inés Rubio-Pérez et al. Cir Esp (Engl Ed). 2020 Jun-Jul.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

In view of the current pandemic by SARS-CoV-2 it deems essential to understand the key concepts about the infection: its epidemiological origin, presentation, clinical course, diagnosis and treatment (still experimental in many cases). The knowledge about the virus is still limited, but as the pandemic progresses and the physiopathology of the disease is understood, new evidence is being massively published. Surgical specialists are facing an unprecedented situation: they must collaborate in the ER or medical wards attending these patients, while still needing to make decisions about surgical patients with probable COVID-19. The present narrative review aims to summarize the most relevant aspects and synthetize concepts on COVID-19 for surgeons.

Ante la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 resulta fundamental conocer los aspectos claves de la infección: su origen epidemiológico, presentación, curso clínico, diagnóstico y los tratamientos empleados (aún experimentales en muchos casos). El conocimiento sobre el virus es limitado, pero a medida que progresa la pandemia y se conoce más su fisiopatología, se está publicando nueva evidencia de forma masiva. Los especialistas quirúrgicos se enfrentan a una situación sin precedentes: deben colaborar en plantas médicas o urgencias atendiendo a estos pacientes y además tomar decisiones sobre pacientes quirúrgicos con posible COVID-19. Esta revisión narrativa pretende resumir los aspectos más relevantes y sintetizar los conceptos básicos sobre COVID-19 para los cirujanos.

Keywords: Cirugía; Coronavirus 2; Coronavirus disease 19; Enfermedad por coronavirus 19; Infección quirúrgica; Medidas preventivas; Preventative measures; Surgery; Surgical infection.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Examples of simple chest radiology of patients with pneumonia in the context of COVID-19. A) Moderate pneumonia with reticular-alveolar consolidations in the bilateral lower and middle lungs; B) Severe pneumonia showing extensive bilateral involvement with alveolar opacities and a tendency towards consolidation in the periphery of both lungs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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MeSH terms