Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on surgical practice - Part 2 (surgical prioritisation)

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic represents a once in a century challenge to human healthcare with over 4.5 million cases and over 300,000 deaths thus far. Surgical practice has been significantly impacted with all specialties writing guidelines for how to manage during this crisis. All specialties have had to triage the urgency of their daily surgical procedures and consider non-surgical management options where possible. The Pandemic has had ramifications for ways of working, surgical techniques, open vs minimally invasive, theatre workflow, patient and staff safety, training and education. With guidelines specific to each specialty being implemented and followed, surgeons should be able to continue to provide safe and effective care to their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this comprehensive and up to date review we assess changes to working practices through the lens of each surgical specialty. •Minimally-invasive surgery should be avoided.•Only emergency surgeries or those where there is a significant risk of disease progression should continue to be performed.•Consent must be altered to include the risk of COVID-19 transmission.