Patient Safety and Healthcare Worker Safety in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Patient safety remains a concern worldwide. Failure in executing patient safety measures will result in serious consequences such as diminished patient\'s quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, increased negative image, and public distrust of healthcare providers. Healthcare worker (HW) safety is also increasingly becoming a concern. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we should implement standards including COVID-19 screening, patient safety, healthcare worker safety, endoscopy room, equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPE). This review is intended to discuss the preparation before, during, and after gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) procedures to ensure patient and healthcare worker safety in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. A literature search was conducted from August 2022 to October 2022 and comprised several journals related to the topic. The literatures were searched on credible platforms such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct. Most of the endoscopy units were reducing the performance, down to 50%–90% reductions. The units prioritized cases using time-sensitive factors to urgent, semi-urgent, and elective classification. The endoscopy procedure is performed in accordance with protocols to maintain patient and healthcare worker safety. Adherence of gastrointestinal endoscopy procedure strictly to standards has to be implemented to protect patient and healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic.