Bariatric Surgical Practice and Patient Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bariatric patients are unique from other surgical patients due to their higher prevalence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory illnesses. The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has drastically changed the way bariatric surgeon's practice today. This review aims to access the best practices to treat our bariatric patient during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2020. A practice overview of one academic and one community bariatric practice along with a literature search using the PubMed data source during the COVID-19 outbreak was conducted. Following the recommendation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service and American College of Surgeons "Guidance of Triage of Non-Emergent Surgical Procedures" released in March of 2020, it is recommended that elective cases be postponed. However, using robust telehealth modalities including video and phone call systems, practice patterns can be modified to mitigate interruptions in patient care.