The inhabitants of Los Angeles, the United States, and the rest of the world have been paralyzed with fear for months in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.   Certainly, some people will always be dismissive or irresponsible and not follow universal guidelines for public health, but the majority of the people in the United States likely recognize that safeguards need to remain in place for the immediate future for everyone’s protection, safety, and health.  Dr. Kenneth Hughes, Los Angeles plastic surgeon, and other medical professionals have been evaluating the risk associated with cosmetic or elective plastic surgery procedures and have formulated safety guidelines.  The simple truth of the matter is that the risk of exposure when receiving elective surgery at a small outpatient surgery center is infinitesimal when compared to other societal modes of exposure and disease transmission on a daily basis.   Realistically, there is only a very minimally increased risk as a result of interactions with an isolated surgery center or its personnel.  Dr. Kenneth Hughes’s surgery center in Los Angeles has one entrance from an open air parking lot and is set up with a variety of safety measures.

 

Patients who become positive for COVID-19 will likely contract the disease from family members, friends, or as a result of their own indiscretions during this time.   When calculating the risk for infection, one has to realize that when thousands of people visit a beach on a weekend or hundreds visit a bar or when dozens are packed into small apartments for parties, the numbers of people involved in these situations coupled with the increased population density result in an astronomically high risk for contraction of disease when compared to a single patient having a surgery in a lone surgery center with 5 staff members.  Universal N95 mask wear, glove wear, air filtration systems, ventilator filtration systems, and meticulous, viricidal cleansing of all surfaces, handles, and equipment represent as sterile an atmosphere as one could possibly imagine.

 

Limiting access to only one patient at a time, not allowing family or friends entry into the surgery center, limiting consultations to the virtual realm, and limiting follow-ups to only those that are urgent are but a few of the ways in which the risk of transmission is brought to near zero.  The risk of exposure from a visit to the grocery store will be higher than the risk of exposure from a visit to a surgery center.

 

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