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Review
. 2020 Jun 24:13:1756284820935187.
doi: 10.1177/1756284820935187. eCollection 2020.

Bilio-pancreatic endoscopy during COVID-19 pandemic

Vincenzo Bove  1 , Tommaso Schepis  2 , Ivo Boškoski  2 , Rosario Landi  2 , Beatrice Orlandini  2 , Valerio Pontecorvi  2 , Pietro Familiari  2 , Andrea Tringali  2 , Vincenzo Perri  2 , Guido Costamagna  2
Affiliations
Review

Bilio-pancreatic endoscopy during COVID-19 pandemic

Vincenzo Bove et al. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

On 31 December 2019, the WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology detected in Wuhan (Hubei Province of China). In January 2020, a new coronavirus named SARS-CoV2 was isolated and, since that time, SARS-CoV2 related disease (COVID-19) rapidly spread all over the world becoming pandemic in March 2020. The COVID-19 outbreak dramatically affected the public-health and the health-care facilities organization. Bilio-pancreatic endoscopy is considered a high-risk procedure for cross-contamination and, even though it is not directly involved in COVID-19 diagnosis and management, its reorganization is crucial to guarantee high standards of care minimizing the risk of SARS-CoV2 transmission among patients and health-care providers. Bilio-pancreatic endoscopic procedures often require a short physical distance between the endoscopist and the patient for a long period of time, a frequent exchange of devices, the involvement of a large number of personnel, the use of complex endoscopes difficult to reprocess. On this basis, endoscopic units should take precautions with adjusted management of bilio-pancreatic endoscopy. The aim of this article is to discuss the approach to bilio-pancreatic endoscopy in the COVID-19 era with focus on diagnostic algorithms, indications, management of the endoscopic room, proper use of Personal Protective Equipment and correct reprocessing of instrumentation.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; digestive endoscopy; endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography; endoscopic ultrasound; personal protective equipment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The correct personal protection equipment for the endoscopy room in COVID-19 patients.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
A proposal for the re-organization of the ‘bilio-pancreatic’ endoscopy room during the COVID-19 outbreak.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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