RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Postoperative fever in the time of COVID-19
JF Canadian Journal of Surgery
JO CAN J SURG
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP E231
OP E232
DO 10.1503/cjs.004720
VO 63
IS 3
A1 Jonathan Bourget-Murray
A1 Bryan J Heard
A1 Rohit Bansal
A1 Andrew S Johnson
A1 James Powell
YR 2020
UL http://canjsurg.ca/content/63/3/E231.abstract
AB Postoperative fever is common following orthopedic trauma surgery. As the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection increases in the community, migration into the acute care hospital setting intensifies, creating confusion when fever develops postoperatively. The transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 make it difficult to adequately gauge and pinpoint risk groups with questionnaires at the time of hospital admission. This is particularly problematic when asymptomatic or presymptomatic patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 require urgent surgery and cannot be screened effectively. One approach is to treat every patient as though they were SARS-CoV-2-positive in preparation for surgery, but doing so could exacerbate shortages of personal protective equipment and staffing limitations. Uncertainty regarding the etiology of postoperative fever could be significantly reduced by universal SARS-CoV-2 testing of all surgical patients at the time of hospital admission in addition to routine screening, but testing capacity and a rapid turnaround time would be required.