COVID‐19 in gastroenterology: Where are we now? Current evidence on the impact of COVID‐19 in gastroenterology
Fernando Magro, Alexandre Nuzzo, Cândida Abreu, Diogo Libânio, Iago Rodríguez–Lago, Katarzyna M. Pawlak, Marcus Hollenbach, Willem Pieter Brouwer, Keith Siau
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges in all fields of society with social, economic, and health-related consequences worldwide. In this context, gastroenterology patients and healthcare systems and professionals have seen their routines changed and were forced to adapt, adopting measures to minimize the risk of infection while guaranteeing continuous medical care to chronic patients. OBJECTIVE: At this point, it is important to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on this field to further improve the quality of the services provided in this context. METHODS/RESULTS/CONCLUSION: We performed a literature review that summarizes the main aspects to consider in gastroenterology, during the pandemic crisis, and includes a deep discussion on the main changes affecting gastroenterology patients and healthcare systems, anticipating the pandemic recovery scenario with future practices and policies.