The death rate after elective surgery soars if a patient has Covid-19, a new study has revealed, as doctors say non urgent procedures should be postponed. The study, published in The Lancet, revealed that among patients with Covid-19 who underwent elective surgery the death rate was 18.9 per cent. Researchers conducted an observational study of 1,128 patients across 24 countries between January 1 and March 31 this year. The study included data from hospitals mainly in Europe and America with ongoing
Coronavirus outbreaks. In April, Imperial College
London modelled the death rates for the virus, with the overall death rate of those in hospital hovering at around 1.3 per cent. A 2013 study, also by Imperial College, into elective procedures conducted in NHS hospitals in
England between 2008 and 2011, found that the overall mortality rate was 0.67 per cent. Lead author of the new study, Dr Aneel Bhangu, from the University of Birmingham in the
UK, said that the thresholds for surgery “should be raised, compared to normal practice”. She added: "Medical teams should consider postponing non-critical procedures and promoting other treatment options, which may delay the need for surgery or sometimes avoid it altogether."