A Control Telephone Call 14 Days after Endoscopy May not be Necessary: Anecdotical Detection of Sars-Cov-2 Infection Following an Endoscopic Procedure

Aims Some guidelines suggest to contact patients 14 days after the endoscopic procedure to evaluate their clinicalsituation, aiming to identify nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our aim was to assess the clinical usefulness of thisrecommendation in an endoscopy unit during the first wave and the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods From March 2020 to July 2020 (first wave and recovery phase), every patient undergoing an endoscopicexamination in our unit was contacted by phone 14 days after the procedure to check about the presence of COVID-19-related symptoms and to inquire about any new SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis using a predesigned questionnaire. Most ofthe patients had a preprocedure nasopharyngal swab testing for SARS-CoV-2 (PCR), and all procedures were performedusing a full PPE. Results 424 inpatients (A) and 1187 outpatients (B) were included. Their main characteristics are summarized in [table 1].Overall, 211 patients (13.1 %) had symptoms that could be related to COVID-19. However, only two cases of SARS-CoV-2positive PCR were detected (0,12 %), one in each group. The +PCR in group A was during the first wave and the +PCR ingroup B was during the recovery phase. Positive group A patient was detected during her admission because complicationsof a multiple myeloma. Positive group B patient was detected because typical COVID-19 symptoms. No infection inhealthcare workers related to these procedures was detected. Conclusions 1) The rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients undergoing an endoscopic examination is exceedingly loweven during the acceleration phase;2) The practical relevance of a control telephone call 14 days post-procedure isquestionable. (Table Presented).