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Review
. 2020 May:77:206-216.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.001. Epub 2020 Apr 11.

Evidence based management guideline for the COVID-19 pandemic - Review article

Maria Nicola  1 , Niamh O'Neill  2 , Catrin Sohrabi  3 , Mehdi Khan  4 , Maliha Agha  5 , Riaz Agha  6
Affiliations
Review

Evidence based management guideline for the COVID-19 pandemic - Review article

Maria Nicola et al. Int J Surg. 2020 May.

Abstract

COVID-19 has now been declared a pandemic. To date, COVID-19 has affected over 2.5 million people worldwide, resulting in over 170,000 reported deaths. Numerous preventative strategies and non-pharmaceutical interventions have been employed to mitigate the spread of disease including careful infection control, the isolation of patients, and social distancing. Management is predominantly focused on the provision of supportive care, with oxygen therapy representing the major treatment intervention. Medical therapy involving corticosteroids and antivirals have also been encouraged as part of critical management schemes. However, there is at present no specific antiviral recommended for the treatment of COVID-19, and no vaccine is currently available. Despite the strategic implementation of these measures, the number of new reported cases continues to rise at a profoundly alarming rate. As new findings emerge, there is an urgent need for up-to-date management guidelines. In response to this call, we review what is currently known regarding the management of COVID-19, and offer an evidence-based review of current practice.

Keywords: COVID-19; Management guidelines; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of individuals from a Chinese study presenting with mild, severe, or critical symptoms of COVID-19 [20].
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The power of social distancing. Attribution: Robert A.J. Signer, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California San Diego and Gary Warshaw, Art Director @SignerLab @GaryWarshaw.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Graph by Ferguson et al. illustrating the ‘adaptive triggering’ strategies in the UK with use of 100 cases admitted to ICU as an ‘on’ trigger and 50 ICU admissions as an ‘off’ trigger [41].
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Illustration by Bouadma et al. demonstrating the progression of severe COVID-19 cases requiring ICU admission [56].
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
NICE algorithm for appropriate critical care referrals [46].
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
A graph to show the antiviral activities of test drugs against COVID-19 in vitro [63].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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