European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

SURGICAL CANCER CARE IN THE COVID-19 ERA: FRONT LINE VIEWS FROM NEPAL

Rupesh Prasad Sah, Kunal Bikram Deo, Nirmal Prasad Sah, Bhawani Khanal and Rakesh Kumar Gupta*

ABSTRACT

The emergence and rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) also known as COVID-19 has taken the entire world by storm since December 2019. COVID-19 disease had its origin in Wuhan, China, and has evolved into a global pandemic1.[1] The coronavirus outbreak is impacting several aspects of the management of patients with cancer. Protection of patients with cancer and health caregivers remains a high priority. A recent study has shown that cancer patients have a higher risk of manifestations of COVID-19 disease with higher mortality when compared with individuals without cancer.[2] An impact on the overall mortality of patients with cancer may result from acute COVID-19 infection as well as from effects related to the breakdown of healthcare and the economic crisis. The operational overload of health systems in the affected countries makes the situation even more worrisome especially in areas of scarce resources. We are sharing our experience, as frontline surgeons in the COVID-19 pandemic, in the surgical care of cancer patients.

Keywords: .