Risk of Air Contamination During Visceral Surgery in COVID19 Patients

Sars-Cov2 has been found in the digestive tract, as well as the respiratory tract. Protection of health care workers during surgery has been increased and some guidelines advocate for abandoning laparoscopy in COVID19 patients for fear of contamination, evenghtough this does not benefit the patient. However, Sars-Cov2 contamination risk during visceral surgery remains unknown. Inadequate protection is unnecessary costful and can be inefficient if too binding. Our hypotheses are that 1) Sars-Cov 2 can travel through droplet and air during visceral surgery. 2) Laparoscopy, because of the pneumoperitoneum and its leaks, warrant more air contamination whereas laparotomy warrant more droplet contamination, which would justified increased protection.