Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.
The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.
Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Index of guideline topics".)
Anesthesia guidance
●International
•Controversies in airway management of COVID-19 patients: Updated information and international expert consensus recommendations (2021)
•Society of Airway Management (SAM): Statement on difficult airway management in adult COVID-19 patients (2021)
•World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA): COVID-19 guidance for anaesthesia and perioperative care providers (2020)
●Canada
•Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (CAS): COVID-19 recommendations during airway manipulation (2020)
•Practical recommendations for critical care and anesthesiology teams caring for novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) patients (2020)
•Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and Canadian Pediatric Anesthesia Society (CPAS): Consensus guidelines on pediatric airway management in COVID-19 patients (2020)
●United States
•Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF): Recommendations for OR ventilation during the SARS COV-2 pandemic – Staying positive (2021)
•American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA): COVID-19 recommendations (2020)
•ASA/APSF/American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants (AAAA)/American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA): Joint position statement for the use of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
•Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA): Statement on COVID-19 testing before ambulatory anesthesia (2020)
•Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC): Decision tree for EVT in AIS during COVID-19 (2020)
•Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) and Canadian Pediatric Anesthesia Society (CPAS): Consensus guidelines on pediatric airway management in COVID-19 patients (2020)
●Europe
•Società Italiana di Anestesia Analgesia Rianimazione e Terapia Intensiva (SIAARTI) and European Airway Management Society (EAMS): The Italian coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak – Recommendations from clinical practice (2020)
●United Kingdom
•Association of Anaesthetists, Difficult Airway Society (DAS), Intensive Care Society (ICS), Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM), Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCOA), Paediatric Intensive Care Society (PICS), and Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists (APA): Consensus guidelines for managing the airway in children with COVID-19 – Highlighting differences in practice from adult guidelines (2020)
•DAS, Association of Anaesthetists, ICS, FICM, and RCOA: Consensus guidelines for managing the airway in patients with COVID-19 (2020)
•FICM, ICS, Association of Anaesthetists, and RCOA: Airway management guidance for the endemic phase of COVID-19 (2020)
•National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP): Paediatric tracheostomy and tracheostomy long-term ventilated care during the COVID pandemic (2020)
●India
•Indian Society of Anesthesiologists (ISA): Advisory and position statement on COVID operation theatre (2020)
●Australia–New Zealand
•New South Wales (NSW) Health: Managing suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients in positive pressure operating theatres (2020, reviewed 2022)
•Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS): COVID-19 guidelines (2021)
•NSW Health: Managing the expanded role of anaesthetists in response to COVID-19 (2021)
•Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA): Statement on personal protection equipment (PPE) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (2020)
•Safe Airway Society (SAS): Consensus statement on principles of airway management and tracheal intubation specific to the COVID‐19 adult patient group (2020)
Pain management
●International
•International expert panel: Consensus recommendations on caring for patients with pain during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
●United States
•American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) and European Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Therapy (ESRA): Joint statement on practice recommendations on neuraxial anesthesia and peripheral nerve blocks during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
•ASRA and ESRA: Joint statement on recommendations on chronic pain practice during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
•ASRA, American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), Spine Intervention Society (SIS), North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS), and World Institute of Pain (WIP): Guidelines for pain management best practices from multispecialty organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic and public health crises (2020)
●Europe
•American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) and European Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Therapy (ESRA): Joint statement on practice recommendations on neuraxial anesthesia and peripheral nerve blocks during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
•ASRA and ESRA: Joint statement on recommendations on chronic pain practice during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
Performing elective surgery
●United States
•American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF): Joint statement on elective surgery/procedures and anesthesia for patients after COVID-19 infection (2021, updated 2023)
•ASA and APSF: Statement on perioperative testing for the COVID-19 virus (2020, updated 2022)
•American College of Surgeons (ACS), ASA, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), and American Hospital Association (AHA): Joint statement – Roadmap for maintaining essential surgery during COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
•ACS, ASA, AORN, and AHA: Joint statement – Roadmap for resuming elective surgery after COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
●United Kingdom
•Association of Anaesthetists, Federation of Surgical Specialty Associations (FSSA), Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCOA), and Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS): A multidisciplinary consensus statement on timing of elective surgery and risk assessment after SARS-CoV-2 infection, update (2023)
Resources for patients — The following links provide resources about COVID-19 for non-clinicians. These resources come from select society and government-sponsored guidelines from several countries and regions around the world.
●[United States] Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA): COVID-19 resources – Resources for parents
●[United Kingdom] Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM), Intensive Care Society (ICS), Association of Anaesthetists, and Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCOA): Patient information
UpToDate also offers "The Basics" patient education pieces, which are written by the doctors and editors at UpToDate. These are written in plain language, at the 5th to 6th grade reading level, and answer the main questions a person is likely to have. (See "Patient education: COVID-19 overview (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and children (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and pregnancy (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 vaccines (The Basics)".)
