INTRODUCTION
On March 14, 2020, the government
of Spain declared a State of Alarm across the country with a
decree that imposed extremely strict conditions and, in practice,
instituted a national lockdown. All healthcare-related matters fell
under the direct orders of the Minister of Health, although certain
possibilities for managing the corresponding health services were
granted to the regional and local public administrations. In practice,
all material and human health resources were devoted exclusively to the
fight against the pandemic, and all scheduled surgical activities were
canceled.
The Spanish Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery (SECCE)
reacted expeditiously to the new situation created by the pandemic and
established a series of recommendations1 to ensure
care in different healthcare dimensions: emergencies, surgical
prioritization of preferential patients, safe delay of elective
patients, and adaptation of ECMO programs in the context of COVID-19.