of these respondents, and 97% of respondents overall, felt they could take reasonable precautions to prevent COVID spread and were comfortable performing surgeries. Practice viability was moderate to severely impacted by these delays for 42% of respondents (Table 1).
While skin cancer surgery is not typically considered “emergency†care, these current results demonstrate that delays in care may lead to increases in local tumor spread and upstaging of skin cancers. Combining the risks of delaying treatment alongside infrequency of spread amongst patients and staff, it is evident that surgeries should proceed and can be performed safely. Future recommendations for reducing treatments should take into consideration these potential negative implications.
While skin cancer surgery is not typically considered “emergency†care, these current results demonstrate that delays in care may lead to increases in local tumor spread and upstaging of skin cancers. Combining the risks of delaying treatment alongside infrequency of spread amongst patients and staff, it is evident that surgeries should proceed and can be performed safely. Future recommendations for reducing treatments should take into consideration these potential negative implications.
DISCLOSURES
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
REFERENCES
1. CMS Releases Recommendations on Adult Elective Surgeries, Non-Essential
Medical, Surgical, and Dental Procedures During COVID-19 Response. In:
Services CfMaM, ed2020. Accessed October 22, 2020.
AUTHOR CORRESPONDENCE
Edward W. Seger MD MS eseger2@kumc.edu
