@article{10818/48096,
year = {2020},
month = {6},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10818/48096},
abstract = {The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact
on provision of endoscopy services globally as staff
and real estate were repurposed. As we begin to
recover from the pandemic, a cohesive international
approach is needed, and guidance on how to resume
endoscopy services safely to avoid unintended harm
from diagnostic delays. The aim of these guidelines is
to provide consensus recommendations that clinicians
can use to facilitate the swift and safe resumption of
endoscopy services. An evidence-based literature review
was carried out on the various strategies used globally
to manage endoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic
and control infection. A modified Delphi process
involving international endoscopy experts was used to
agree on the consensus statements. A threshold of 80%
agreement was used to establish consensus for each
statement. 27 of 30 statements achieved consensus
after two rounds of voting by 34 experts. The statements
were categorised as pre-endoscopy, during endoscopy
and postendoscopy addressing relevant areas of practice,
such as screening, personal protective equipment,
appropriate environments for endoscopy and infection
control precautions, particularly in areas of high disease
prevalence. Recommendations for testing of patients and
for healthcare workers, appropriate locations of donning
and doffing areas and social distancing measures
before endoscopy are unique and not dealt with by any
other guidelines. This international consensus using a
modified Delphi method to produce a series of best
practice recommendations to aid the safe resumption of
endoscopy services globally in the era of COVID-19.},
publisher = {Gut},
keywords = {COVID-19},
keywords = {SARS-CoV-2},
keywords = {Endoscopy},
title = {Recovery of endoscopy services in the era of COVID-19: recommendations from an international Delphi consensus},
doi = {10.1136/gutjnl-2020-322329},
author = {Bhandari, Pradeep and Subramaniam, Sharmila and Bourke, Michael J and Alkandar, Asma and [y otros].},
}