The American College of Surgeons (ACS) released guidelines for triaging surgeries of patients with cancer during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.1-2
Though nothing can replace sound medical judgement and local adjudication, it has generally been advised that hospitals discontinue elective surgery based on an Elective Surgery Acuity Scale provided by Sameer Siddiqui, MD, FACS, of St. Louis University.
“During the current COVID-19 pandemic, hospital leadership and individual providers are facing increasingly difficult decisions about how to conserve critical resources, such as hospital and ICU beds, respirators, transfusion capacity as well as protective gear (e.g. PPE) that is vital for protecting patients and staff from unnecessary exposure and intra-hospital transmission,” ACS wrote. “This information is intended to help institutions and providers who are…
