16 April 2020

Recommendations on endoscopy practice during COVID-19

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The spread of COVID-19 pandemic is mainly through direct contact or aerosol droplets, which means risk of transmission may occur among healthcare professionals when they are providing essential services to patients. In order to prevent infection among healthcare providers during endoscopy procedures, the Asian Pacific Society for Digestive Endoscopy developed a position statement “Practice of endoscopy during COVID-19 pandemic: position statements of the Asian Pacific Society for Digestive Endoscopy”. This statement, worked out by 16 experts of digestive endoscopy in Asia, provided recommendations for endoscopy centres on management and preventive measures. Clinical measures such as triage and risk assessment before endoscopy, resource prioritization and regular monitoring of personal protective equipment were suggested. (Gut. 2020 Apr 2. pii: gutjnl-2020-321185. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321185. [Epub ahead of print])

Anyone interested in future collaboration in this field of research is welcome to contact our key investigators Prof Philip Chiu in the Department of Surgery or our Dean Prof Francis Chan, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK. Prof Chiu’s research focuses on early diagnosis and treatment of upper GI cancers, peroral endoscopic myotomy and submucosal endoscopic tumour resection. Prof Chan’s research focuses on peptic ulcer bleeding, helicobacter pylori, endoscopic therapy and colorectal cancer.