id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-317049-q3bvmkf7	Forde, Justin J.	Yield and Implications of Pre-Procedural COVID-19 PCR Testing on Routine Endoscopic Practice	2020-05-25		.txt	text/plain	1140	68	47	To fill the knowledge gap in this area, we sought to describe our experience with resuming endoscopy using a two-step approach (patient screening followed by COVID-19 testing) in order to provide needed data for other practices weighing the risks and benefits of resuming endoscopic procedures. On April 13, 2020 our endoscopy unit began mandatory COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing by nasopharyngeal swab for all patients prior to any endoscopic procedure. On arrival to the endoscopy unit, patients were again screened by nursing staff using the same pre-procedure questionnaire and body temperature checks. Even with a negative result, endoscopy staff used full barrier PPE and ensured compliance with hygiene and social distancing practices in pre-and post-procedure areas to minimize risks to patients and staff. Although preprocedure PCR testing for COVID-19 may help to assuage concerns of the endoscopy unit staff, this needs to be balanced against the substantial false negative rate even with the best available tests.	./cache/cord-317049-q3bvmkf7.txt	./txt/cord-317049-q3bvmkf7.txt