Contagious Viral Diseases in the Operating Room: A Review of Evolving Safety Protocols at Three Levels

Abstract

Li Zihan.

The prime aim of this study is to provide an integration of the existing and available studies on the safety protocol and measures for the prevention and control of the contagious viral diseases. Using a systematic literature review, as many as 65 articles and publications were used from the notable medical data base, such as Pub Med, PMC (NIH) US, Europe PMC, the Lancet and other scientific reports. After a detailed screening of the articles using the exclusion criteria, the articles from 2010 or later have been used for the review process. Some of the key words that were used include ‘contagious viral disease’, ‘safety protocol’, ‘patient’, ‘doctor’, ‘surgical staff’, ‘operation theatre’. Several articles pertain to the incidence of the safety precautionary measures for the times when there was outbreak of Ebola, SARS, MERS and Corona virus were used. The novelty of the study is that it discusses the safety control measures and protocol at three levels, instead of general surgical interventions: namely, at the patient, doctor and the surgical staff level. All the studies have suggested that only urgent surgeries must be conducted and the elective one be delayed. Hospitals have devised SOPs to be followed so that these can be protected from the infection and the spread rate of infection transmission can be reduced or minimized