Risk of Covid-19 infection during endoscopy: Efficacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) in protecting health professionals

  • Muhammad Akif Dilshad Lahore General Hospital Lahore
  • Shahid Sarwar Services Institute of Medical Sciences
  • Farheen Aslam Lahore College of Women University
  • Adnan Shabbir Lahore General Hospital Lahore
  • Shafqat Rasool Lahore General Hospital Lahore
  • Ghias un-Nabi Tayyab Lahore General Hospital Lahore
Keywords: Covid-19 infection, Endoscopy, Personal Protective equipment (PPE)

Abstract

Objectives: To correlate compliance to personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols and risk of exposure to SARS-COV-2 infection in endoscopy staff.

Methods: We included 85 endoscopic procedures performed at Lahore General Hospital from May to July 2020. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) were implemented for patient selection, risk stratification and personal protective equipment (PPE) use for endoscopy staff. Patient and endoscopy staff were followed for Covid-19 infection. PPE scores for staff and Covid-19 positivity on follow-up were correlated using student’s t test.

Results: Following 85 procedures included, 2 (2.3%) patients became Covid-19 positive. PPE score was <9 in 5 (5.8%) procedures for endoscopist and Covid-19 developed in 2 (2.3%) of them, PPE score was <9 during 19 (22.3%) procedures in 1st assistant and 9 (10.5%) developed infection and for 2nd assistant PPE score was <9 in 19(22.3%) endoscopies and 5 (5.9%) tested positive for covid-19. Infectivity of endoscopy staff was 6.2%. Association between PPE score and risk of Covid-19 was not significant. (p value 0.51 for endoscopist, 0.10 for 1st assistant and 0.09 for 2nd assistant).

Conclusion: Compliance of SOPs for infection control reduces risk of acquiring Covid-19 infection during endoscopy. Proper use of PPE is effective for safety of endoscopy staff.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.4057

How to cite this:
Dilshad MA, Sarwar S, Aslam F, Shabbir A, Rasool S, Tayyab GN. Risk of Covid-19 infection during endoscopy: Efficacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) in protecting health professionals. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(4):1093-1098.   doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.4057

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biography

Shahid Sarwar, Services Institute of Medical Sciences

Associate Professor of Medicine

Department of Medicine, Services Institute of Medical Sciences Lahore

Consultant Gastroenterologist

Doctors Hospital and Medical Center Lahore

Published
2021-05-06
How to Cite
Dilshad, M. A., Sarwar, S., Aslam, F., Shabbir, A., Rasool, S., & Tayyab, G. un-N. (2021). Risk of Covid-19 infection during endoscopy: Efficacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) in protecting health professionals. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 37(4). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.4057
Section
Original Articles

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