The Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists and the College of Anaesthesiologists, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia strongly refute the misleading message circulating on the social platform on the causation and/or adverse reactions of anaesthesia against COVID-19 vaccinated individuals.

To date, there is no scientific evidence to validate the unfounded misinformation.

Allowing such misstatements to propagate may impact many vulnerable individuals awaiting anaesthesia for surgical procedures and their inclination for vaccination. Hence the need for us to address this with urgency.

We may consider asking patients to defer elective non-urgent surgeries if they are recently vaccinated, not because of interactions with anaesthesia but mainly to confer the full benefit of the two doses of vaccine to protect the individual from COVD-19 when the patient comes to the hospital.

Additionally, patients may present with post-vaccination related symptoms such as muscle pain or fever which may extend through the perioperative period.

Deferment here is to ensure that the side effects of the vaccine are not confused with other side effects related to the operative procedure.¹

If the surgery is an emergency, recent vaccination should not be the reason to defer surgery.

There are guidelines on rescheduling elective surgeries for patients who are COVID-19 positive and recovering which is a different issue altogether.

These established guidelines allow for maximal recovery after a COVID-19 infection taking into account the severity of the infection.2

We encourage patients to seek expert advice from their healthcare professionals who will be able to provide detailed explanations on this matter.

References:

¹ Limper U, Defosse J, Schildgen O, Wappler F. Perioperative risk evaluation in patients scheduled for elective surgery in close relation to their SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. British Journal of Anaesthesia 2021; Volume 126, Issue 6, e225-e226, June 01, 2021.

² American Society of Anaesthesiologists and Anaesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. ASA and APSF Joint Statement on Elective Surgery and Anesthesia for Patients after COVID-19 Infection, December 08, 2020.