Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Performing Cardiovascular Surgical Procedures: What Were the Alternatives to Minimize the Damage?

This article aims to analyze the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic in carrying out cardiovascular surgical procedures and what alternatives were used by Health Systems to overcome the difficulties encountered.This is an integrative literature review, based on articles found in the MedLine database, through a pre-selection, using the descriptors "Cardiovascular Surgical Procedures" and "Covid-19", joined by the Boolean operator.The selection of articles was based on a scientific question prepared by the PICO strategy and inclusion and exclusion criteria.Articles were classified by country of study, type of surgery, level of evidence by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality classification, and by the implications and adaptations to the pandemic.A total of 112 articles were found, with 21 articles selected.The United States and United Kingdom prevailed, with a total of 10 articles.The most discussed procedures were heart valve replacement and implantation (23.81%) and congenital heart surgery (14.28%).As impacts of the pandemic were evidenced: the reduction in the number of procedures (85.71%) and the higher mortality (47.62%).As alternatives used to overcome these difficulties, the use of telemedicine (42.86%) and the advance of procedures for patients positive for Covid-19 (38.10%) stand out.