The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a major shift in international health care and service delivery.1 Disruptions in ‘routine health care’ have been the global standard, and this is also true of perioperative care. Elective surgical procedures have been delayed, due to various factors, including patient infection, staff infection and shortages, and prolonged theatre times needed for adequate infection-control measures. These factors have resulted in a backlog of patients awaiting elective surgery, as well as an inability of healthcare facilities to cope with the prepandemic patient load.1,2

Reduced surgical capacity, delayed patient presentation and management, the effects of long COVID and prolonged home isolation with resultant patient-deconditioning are all factors that impact the cohort of patients presenting for surgery. Perioperative physicians will thus be challenged with more complex cases to manage in the years to come.3,4

Solus Practice, Optima Anaesthesia, South Africa

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