Vol. 46 (4): 501-510, July – August, 2020
doi: 10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2020.04.03
LETTER
Arie Carneiro 1, 2, Marcelo Langer Wroclawski 1, 3, Bruno Nahar 4, Andrey Soares 5, 6, 7, Ana Paula Cardoso 5, Nam Jin Kim 8, Fabricio Torres Carvalho 9, 10
1 Departamento de Urologia, Hospital Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 2 Diretor Científico e Executivo – Grupo Internacional de Urologia Avançada, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 3 Departamento de Urologia – Beneficiência Portuguesa de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 4 Department of Urology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, FL, USA; 5 Departamento de Oncologia Médica, Hospital Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 6 Departamento de Oncologia Médica, Centro Paulista de Oncologia – Oncoclínicas, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 7 Diretor científico – Grupo Latino-Americano de Oncologia Cooperativa, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 8 Chefe do Programa de Cirurgia e Cirurgia Robótica, Hospital Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 9 Departamento de Doenças Infecciosas, Hospital Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brasil; 10 Departamento de Medicina Intensiva e Unidade de Terapia Intensiva – AC Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
ABSTRACT
This letter to the Editor aims to provide suggestions and recommendations for the management of urological conditions in times of COVID-19 crisis in Brazil and other low- and middle-income countries.
It is important to highlight that one of the main characteristics of this pandemic is the oversaturation of the health system capacity, mostly due to a high demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), Hospital/ICU beds, as well as ventilators. In places with limited resources and where the health care systems are already saturated, such consideration is even more worrisome.
Therefore, most worldwide authorities are recommending to avoid, as much as possible, patient’s elective visits to hospitals, as well as a judicious use of the operating room in order to mitigate the strain put on the health system. While efforts should be directed to the care of COVID-19 patients, other conditions (especially urgencies and oncological cases) must continue to be assisted.
Thus, through a panel of experts, we have prepared a practical guide for urologists based on the recommendations from the main Urologic Associations, as well as data from the literature to support the suggested management. We will try to follow the standard guideline recommendations from the American Urological Association (AUA) and European Association of Urology (EAU), with the aim of pursuing the best outcomes possible. However, some recommendations were based on the consensus of the panel, taking into consideration the reality of developing countries and the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
