Last updated on June 21st, 2023 at 09:55 am

Please see admission pathway for further details (note patients for urgent elective cancer surgery should follow locally agreed process).

Elective surgery for patients who have recently had Covid

Testing of asymptomatic patients for COVID-19 prior to elective admission is no longer recommended.

Based on available evidence and clinical consensus our current approach is:

  1. If the surgery is routine then surgery should be deferred for 6 weeks post infection (even mild or asymptomatic Covid). The main rationale for this is to minimise the recognised increased thromboembolic risk.
  2. If the surgery is clinically urgent (risk of cancer progression or other significant clinical risk) then a clinical decision should be reached weighing the risks v benefits of earlier surgery. This would involve clinical review of the patient and may depend on the severity of Covid infection. A collective decision should be reached between surgeon and anaesthetist and may involve MDT discussions.
  3. This guidance does not need to be extended to diagnostic / minor LA procedures.

There are also cases where patients have had a persistently positive PCR test extending months post infection. In these cases there is no evidence that the patient is still infectious but it is advised that the surgery be performed on a ‘Red’ pathway if clinically indicated and where further delays may be harmful.