Resuming elective surgical activity after the COVID-19 wave: what the patients need to know

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), infected more than four million people during the first months of 2021, and Italy was reported to have the highest death toll per million population at the beginning of May2. While there is no consensus on the treatment of the disease yet, understanding how the virus and its transmission will behave in the future is a cardinal priority for planning the re-establishment of routine healthcare services, such as surgery, in view of preventing indirectly COVID-19-related deaths due to undelivered care and lack of adequate treatment. Sadly, elective surgery on patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection, has shown increased mortality risk, therefore increasing anxiety among the population waiting for surgical interventions, as most of the elective activity was suspended due to COVID-19 outbreak.