Introduction.

The COVID-19 pandemic that was declared on March 11 of this year, spread from China to the entire world rapidly, and the large number of infected patients has saturated our precarious health system, which has forced to restrict the elective and emergency surgical activity. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical and surgical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 operated on in the emergency service of the Edgardo Rebagliati Martins National Hospital - EsSalud.

Method.

A descriptive, observational and retrospective study was performed, which included patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 operated by the emergency service, between March 6 and June 8, 2020. The clinical characteristics, diagnostic tests and surgical findings were analyzed.

Results.

26 patients underwent emergency surgery and 17 caesarean sections, four appendectomies, two intestinal resections with ostomy, an inguinal herniorrhaphy, a bladder raffia and an exploratory laparotomy were performed. All had an open approach. The most frequent symptoms were cough and fever; 23% of the patients were asymptomatic. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed with rapid or serological tests. In the abdominal pathology group, C-reactive protein and D-dimer were elevated more than in the cesarean section. A complication was found (infection of the surgical site) and no deaths were observed.

Conclusion.

The adoption of restrictive measures in surgical indications for emergency patients may explain the absence of severe complications and deaths in this series.

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