Patients should receive the COVID-19 vaccine before surgery to reduce the risk of death

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Governments should prioritize surgery patients for COVID-19 vaccination

Patients awaiting elective surgery should receive a selection of COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the general population – possibly helping to avoid thousands of virus-related postoperative deaths, according to a new study funded by the NIHR.

Between 0.6% and 1.6% of patients develop COVID-19 infection after elective surgery. Patients who develop COVID-19 infection are at increased risk of death between 4- and 8-fold in the 30 days after surgery. For example, while patients aged 70 or older undergoing cancer surgery would have a mortality rate of 2.8%, this will increase to 18.6% if they develop COVID-19 infection.

Based on the high risks faced by surgical patients, scientists estimate that the vaccine of surgical patients is more likely to prevent COVID-19-related deaths than the vaccines given to the patient. general population – particularly among people over 70 and those undergoing surgery for cancer. For example, while 1,840 people aged 70 or over in the general population need to be vaccinated to save one life over one year, this figure is only 351 in patients aged 70 or over. older people undergoing cancer surgery.

In total, the scientists believe that a global priority of preoperative vaccination for selected patients could prevent an additional 58,687 COVID-19 deaths in one year.

This may be particularly important for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) where mitigation measures such as nasal swab screening and surgical pathways are unlikely to be COVID-free, which may be at risk from reduce virus-related problems, universally implemented.

The international team of COVIDSurg Collaborative researchers, led by experts at the University of Birmingham, have today published their findings in BJS (including the British Journal of Surgery and the European Journal of Surgery), after analyzing data for 141,582 patients from across 1,667 hospitals in 116 countries – including Australia, Brazil, China, India, the UAE, the UK and the USA – creates the largest ever international study of surgery.

Co-lead author Mr Aneel Bhangu, of the University of Birmingham, said: “Preoperative vaccination could support a safe resumption of elective surgery by significantly reducing the risk of COVID-19 complications in patients and preventing tens of thousands of COVID-19 post-operative-related deaths.

“Many countries, especially low- and middle-income countries, will not have access to COVD for several years. Although vaccine supply is limited, governments are prioritizing vaccination for groups with the maximum risk for COVID-19 mortality. Our work can help inform these decisions. “

Co-lead author Dr Dmitri Nepogodiev, from the University of Birmingham, said: “The resumption of elective surgery is a global priority. More than 15,000 surgeons and anesthetists from across 116 countries came together to contribute to this study, leaving it as largest ever scientific collaboration Policy makers use vital data to support safe relapse to elective surgery, priority should be given to COVID vaccine for occupational patients elective surgery ahead of the general population. “

During the first wave of the pandemic, up to 70% of elective treatment centers were canceled, resulting in a delay of 28 million procedures being postponed or postponed. Although the scale of surgery has begun to recover in many countries, it is likely that continued unrest will continue throughout 2021, especially if countries with other waves of COVID-19 occur. Vaccines are also likely to reduce postoperative lung problems – reducing intensive care use and overall health care costs.

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For more information or interviews, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0) 121 414 8254 or +44 (0) 782 783 2312. For out of hours inquiries, please telephone to +44 (0) 7789 921 165.

Notes to editors

  • The University of Birmingham is ranked among the top 100 institutions in the world, its work brings people from all over the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more 6,500 international students from more than 150 countries.
  • SARS-CoV-2 vaccine modeling for safe, life-saving surgery: data from an international cohort study are planned ‘- COVIDSurg Collaborative published by the British Journal of Surgery.
  • The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has given £ 7 million to the University of Birmingham to establish the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery. This unit is engaged in multi-country randomized controlled trials testing interventions to reduce SSI across a range of low- and middle-income countries. The NIHR is the UK’s largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:
    • Funding, supporting and delivering high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care
    • Engage and involve patients, carers and the public to improve the accessibility, quality and impact of research
    • Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to address complex future health and care challenges
    • Invest in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to turn findings into better treatments and services
    • Partners with other public funders, charities and business to get the most out of patient research and the economy

    The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and well-being of the country through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health screening for the direct and basic benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, drawing on UK support from the UK government.

    * Summary of key data from the survey (Table)

    * List of participating countries (Table)

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