Wound treatment strategies during COVID-19 pandemic: An expert opinion

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a great challenge for the healthcare systems and healthcare workers worldwide. The resources and the infrastructure of the healthcare systems are reorganized to provide care for abundant number of pandemic patients. All elective procedures and treatments have either cancelled or postponed. Treatment of lower extremity ulcers may be misclassified as non-essential during this pandemic; however, without regular best wound care, these ulcers are at a great risk of becoming quickly infected, which may lead to an increased rate of septicemia, amputations, and even deaths in this fragile patient population. In this review, we discuss the treatment strategies for lower leg ulcers and vascular pathologies during pandemic and provide an algorithm for triage which may be a useful guide for vascular surgeons.